


Just Let Me Adore You

by darthswift13



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Journalism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bratty Sub Rey, Dom/sub, Dominant Ben Solo, Epistolary, F/M, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Hair-pulling, Happy Ending, Heiress Rey Palpatine, Like this became so much fluffier than I intended, Praise Kink, References to Emotional Abuse, Sassy Rey (Star Wars), Sexting, Spanking, Textfic, Unsafe Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:54:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthswift13/pseuds/darthswift13
Summary: Heiress Rey Palpatine meets journalist Ben Solo when he interviews her for an article about Chandrila’s elite and they’re immediately attracted to each other. What happens when Ben starts to want more than a no-strings-attached fling?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 62
Kudos: 259





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> The beautiful cover was made by the amazing [ Lena](http://twitter.com/bensoloswhore)!

* * *

** —Meet Rey Palpatine: 24, beauty influencer and heiress to the Palpatine fortune. **

** —Meet Ben Solo: 27, Very Serious Journalist (TM) **

** —Meet Rey’s friends **

** —Meet the Ticos, Ben’s best friends **

* * *

* * *

* * *


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tilts her head. “Oh, does that _bother you_ when I call you that, Mr. Silo?” She smirks again, a snide, smug little half-grin, and then she does something even more maddening: she bites down on her lower lip while holding Ben’s gaze.

When Rey hears the doorbell ring, she adjusts herself in the full-length mirror she has beside her front door one final time, fluffing up her curls, applying a fresh layer of lip gloss, and adjusting her blazer.

She opens the door and Ben is standing on the doorstep of her massive mansion, nervously flipping through a notepad. Rey clears her throat dramatically — the sound echoes through the large marble floored foyer — and folds her arms across her chest.

When he looks up, he’s even more breathtakingly handsome than he looked in photos, not to mention how stupidly  _ tall  _ he is, so tall that she still has to look up to meet his eyes, even in her heels.

She realizes she must be just standing there  _ staring  _ at him like an idiot, so she tries to think of something to say. 

“You’re — you’re early, Mr. Silo.”

Ben looks at his watch. “Oh, well, it’s 1:55, and our meeting is at 2, so...also, it’s Mr. Solo.”

Rey flashes a false smile. “Mmm, the thing is, I literally don’t care.” She sighs dramatically. “Anyway, I guess we might as well get this stupid interview over with.” 

“You know, Miss Palpatine, it might be in your best interest to be slightly less rude to the person in charge of writing an article about you,” Ben counters.

“Oh  _ please _ , don’t patronize me, Mr. Silo,” Rey mutters, rolling her eyes. “Whether people like me or not, I’m still the heiress to my grandfather’s  _ considerable  _ fortune, so I couldn’t care less what people think about me. So let’s just get this over with, shall we?” 

There’s an awkward silence while he just stands there, and she realizes he’s probably waiting for her to invite him in.

“Won’t you please step into my home?” She asks with mock formality, gesturing toward the foyer and stepping to the side to let him enter as she glares up at the ceiling in annoyance. “You can just, er, follow me to the living room, I guess,” she mumbles in a bored voice, her stiletto heels clacking on the marble floor.

  
  


____

  
  


The Palpatine mansion is by far the biggest home Ben has ever been in. His mother is a U.S. Senator, so he’s certainly never been poor by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s never known decadence like  _ this  _ — all marble and gold accents, endlessly tall ceilings, windows that span whole walls, several acres of land with at least two pools and multiple water fixtures. The living room looks like it was plucked directly from a Pottery Barn catalog. 

There’s a grand piano to one side of the living room, a massive chandelier, a patterned rug, a deep blue velvet sectional couch, and a large white leather ottoman at the center of the room.

“I’m supposed to ask you to sit, right? Or offer you something to drink? I don’t know, I don’t receive a lot of guests. And I don’t really care anyway, so.”

Ben glares at her. “So are you going to ask me to sit down or what, Miss Palpatine?”

“Sit. Stand. Run around in circles. I don’t really care what you do, Mr. Silo.”

“You’re an incredibly infuriating person, has anyone ever told you that before? And it’s Mr. Solo. For the third time.”

“Mmm, well I think it’s awfully rude to call someone you barely know — what was it —  _ ‘infuriating’ _ ? Anyway, can we  _ please  _ just get this bloody interview over with already?”

“Fine,” Ben mutters. He sits down on the couch and pulls his notebook and phone out of his pocket. “Do you mind if I record this interview?”

Rey sits down on the other side of the couch, leaving a considerable gap between them. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t care what you do.”

Ben sighs in frustration and opens the voice memo app before setting his phone down on the ottoman a bit too forcefully, all while glaring at Rey.

If her attitude weren’t infuriating enough, he has to keep his eyes from wandering to the expanse of exposed skin under her blazer. When she moves a certain way, he can see the lace from her bra poking out, and it makes his breath hitch in his throat.

Why does the single most  _ frustrating  _ person Ben has ever met also have to be the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on? Because if the blazer situation wasn’t distracting enough, her eyes are also the most beautiful, sparkling shade of hazel flecked with gold and green, her smile is as radiant as July sunshine, and she has  _ freckles.  _

He clears his throat and shakes his head slightly, snapping himself out of his reverie.

“So are you going to ask me questions or what, Mr. Silo?” Rey snaps.

Ben pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. “For the  _ fourth time — ” _

Rey rolls her eyes. “And for the fourth time, _I._ _Don’t. Care._ ” She sighs irritably. “ _Anyway_. I’m _waiting_ , sir. You can start your precious little interview any time now,” she adds with an infuriating little smirk as she crosses her legs and sits up a bit straighter. 

Ben just glares at her as he flips open his notebook.

“I’m  _ waiting _ , Mr. Silo,” Rey chimes in. 

“I’m opening my notebook,” he retorts flatly.

“Mmm well, you could try doing it a bit faster, I don’t have all day. There are about a thousand and one better things I could be doing right now.”

“Is that so, Miss Palpatine?”

“Yes. It is,” she says matter-of-factly.

“ _ Anyway _ . My first question is: What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?”

“I have a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Columbia. And my grandfather didn’t pay for it — I had an academic scholarship.”

A look of surprise crosses Ben’s features. “Wait, really?”

Rey rolls her eyes. “Yes, I know, it’s  _ ever-so-shocking _ that I actually have a brain under all these expensive hair extensions.”

“I guess it’s just surprising that you put all that effort into getting a degree from an Ivy League university, and now you get paid to make posts about lip gloss on Instagram. When you don’t even need the money...clearly,” he mutters, glancing around the vast, ornate living room. 

Rey scoffs. “I am a  _ business woman _ , Mr. Silo,” she informs him snidely. 

“I didn’t mean to offend. Also, that’s not my name.”

“Well, you did offend me, so next question, please,” she retorts coldy.

He briefly scans through his notes and then looks up at her again. “What does a typical day look like for you?”   
  


“Hmmmm,” Rey muses. “I usually wake up whenever I feel like it, maybe put together an outfit for an outfit of the day Instagram post, get some Starbucks sent to me with Uber Eats, check to see if I have any P.R. packages with new makeup products or clothes and try those out, maybe make a little video for my Instagram story. Sometimes I’ll call my grandfather, he’s at his summer home in the Hamptons right now.”

“Sounds riveting,” Ben mutters.

“I’m pretty sure as a journalist you’re not supposed to offer your opinion, Mr. Silo.”

Ben sets his pencil down a little too forcefully. “Miss Palpatine, I swear to  _ God  _ — ”

Rey tilts her head. “Oh, does that  _ bother  _ you when I call you that,  _ Mr. Silo _ ?” She smirks again, a snide, smug little half-grin, and then she does something even more maddening: she bites down on her lower lip while holding Ben’s gaze.

Her lips part slightly. “Mmm, it does, doesn’t it?” she muses, her eyes scanning across him. She uncrosses her legs and leans forward. “I can tell. From the way you’re clenching your fists and tightening your jaw. It bothers you  _ so much _ you can hardly stand it.”

“Yes,” he snaps back, his voice low and dark. “Yes, it does.”

“Hmmmmm,” she muses again, imperceptibly inching over closer to him on the couch. When she speaks again her voice is barely audible. “Well, are you going to do something about it, Mr. Silo?”

He draws in a sharp breath. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Miss Palpatine.”

A smile plays on her lips. “Oh, but I think you know  _ exactly  _ what I mean.” Her eyes darken as they scan across him again and she inches a little bit closer. She bites down on her lower lip again and it’s  _ maddening,  _ the way she’s toying with him, the way she knows exactly what she’s doing, the way he wants to tear that  _ stupid blazer _ off of her.

He swallows thickly. “Do you — do you  _ want  _ me to do something about it, Miss Palpatine?” 

She licks her lips. Leans closer to him. “ _ Yes,”  _ she breathes out. 

It’s absurd, really, what she’s asking. He barely knows her. He’s supposed to be interviewing her. He’s supposed to be  _ professional. _ But when she’s looking at him like  _ that  _ with those arresting hazel eyes, biting down on her lip, leaning closer to him, just a breath away now, so close he can smell her expensive perfume, something floral and sweet and intoxicating— 

Before he can even process what’s happening, he closes the gap between them and their lips meet in a hungry, searing open-mouthed kiss. Ben’s hand finds her hair and tugs at it slightly, pulling her away from the kiss, and she whimpers.

“How am I going to punish you for being such an impudent little  _ brat _ ?” he hisses. “You know what I think? I think you need to be spanked.”

“ _ Yes _ ,” Rey whines.

It only takes a fraction of a second for him to flip her over and have her spread out face down across his lap, and she yelps. 

He runs a hand across her ass and then taps lightly at first, testing the waters. 

“Mmm, is that the best you can do,  _ Mr. Silo _ ?”

He spanks her more forcefully then. “God, you’re such a fucking  _ brat _ . I know you know that’s not my fucking name.” He spanks her again, and she moans. “And I know you knew  _ exactly _ what you were doing wearing this stupid little blazer with nothing but a bra underneath.” 

He slaps her ass again, and she groans even louder, a half-whimpered, “yes, more,  _ please, _ ” escaping her lips. 

“Oh, yes, that’s better. I like when you say please. Good girls say please. But you’re not a very good girl, are you?” he asks. She doesn’t have time to answer before he spanks her again, but he can feel her shaking her head. “Mmm, it’s a shame, because if you could be good for me I might— ” He pauses. “Nevermind.” 

He spanks her again, drawing a low moan from her lips. 

“You might — you might what?” 

“Mmm, I don’t think you’ve been good enough to even hear all the things I would do to you if you could be good for me.”

“And what if I don’t want to be good?”

He spanks her again. “You’re a dirty girl, aren’t you? You like when I spank you. Bet it makes you wet. Does it, sweetheart? Does it make you wet when I spank you?”

She just whimpers and nods. 

“Can I feel how wet I made you?”

She doesn’t say anything, just squirms and fumbles clumsily to start unbuttoning and unzipping her pants. He helps her tug them off the rest of the way, and he gasps when he realizes she’s not wearing underwear and he can feel her wetness pooling on his pants.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” he hisses. “Why the fuck aren’t you wearing any panties, Miss Palpatine?” 

“Wanted — wanted to be ready — in case — in case you wanted to fuck me — saw your picture online — wanted you — wanted your cock — ”

“Only good girls get to have my cock. And you haven’t been a very good girl, now have you?” He dips his hand between her legs, fingertips teasing the wetness there, and she moans loudly.

“Who made you this wet?” he asks in a commanding tone. 

She smirks snidely. “Who do you think?”

He spanks her forcefully, the loud slap of skin on skin echoing through the large room, and she whimpers. 

“You did.  _ You  _ made me this wet, Mr. Solo.”

“Good girl.”

He brushes his finger along her labia, drawing a moan out of her, and then, all at once, he slides a finger inside of her and she cries out. It’s pushed all the way inside of her, all the way to his knuckle, but he doesn’t move it.

“Mr. Solo,  _ please _ .”

“Mmm. Saying please. I like that. I’m trying to decide if you deserve to come. I’m not sure if you do.” 

“I can — ” She gasps, writhing her hips, trying to urge him to move, to fuck her with his finger. “Can be good — can be so good for you — if you make me come, I’ll get on my knees and suck your cock until you come in my mouth. P - promise.”

“Do you think you can take all of me in that pretty little mouth of yours, baby?”

“Yes, I can be so good, I’ll suck your cock so good, I’ll — ”

He starts to move his finger, and she gasps. 

“ _ Ben _ ,” she groans. “That feels — so good —  _ fuck  _ — ”

She’s so wet that he makes an obscene sound as he slides his finger in and out of her, and she cries out when he adds a second finger. She feels perfect —  _ maddeningly  _ perfect and his cock throbs at the thought of being inside of her tight, wet little cunt. 

“Mr. Solo, I’m — I — ” she gasps for air as she gets closer to her peak, and Ben starts thrusting his fingers faster, eliciting the most intoxicating moans to pour forth from her lips, those perfect pink little lips that she promised she would suck his cock with, those lips that will leave lipstick marks behind to remind him where her mouth had been— 

“You don’t come until I tell you that you can come, is that understood?”

Rey sighs dramatically and rolls her eyes. “I’ll come whenever I want.”

He immediately pulls his fingers out of her and she whimpers at the loss of contact. 

He spanks her. Hard. “Let’s try this again: you don’t come until I tell you that you can come, _ is that understood _ ?” 

Rey whimpers. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry. I’ll be good, I promise. Please let me come Mr. Solo.  _ Please _ .”

He smiles as he slides his fingers inside of her again.

“Much better. Good girl.” 

His thumb finds her clit and swirls around it as he fucks her with his fingers hard and fast, her moans echoing through the large mansion.

“You can come now, sweetheart. Come for me,” he murmurs and just like that he feels her cunt clench around his fingers as she comes with a shout. 

He regrets that he can’t see her face — he thinks she must look very pretty when she comes.

It takes her a moment to catch her breath. He slowly pulls his fingers out of her and she sits up, wasting no time straddling him between her thighs. 

She bites down on her lower lip again, and  _ God,  _ it’s insane how that drives him crazy. She bats her eyelashes and leans forward, pulling at his tie, running her hands up and down his chest before kissing him, long and slow and deep. 

She leans forward so her lips brush against the shell of his ear. “My turn.” He shivers.

And then, finally, she sinks down to the floor on her knees. He draws in a sharp breath. 

She keeps her eyes — those beautiful, _ impossibly beautiful  _ hazel eyes of hers — glued to his as she slowly starts undoing his belt. She slowly reaches into his boxers and pulls his cock out, tugging his pants and boxers down the rest of the way with a frustrated huff.

She looks up at him as she licks along his length and he shudders. “Yes, just like that, sweetheart. Good girl.”

She pumps his cock hesitantly, one, two, three times. 

“Fuck, your little hands barely fit around me. How are you going to fit me in that pretty little mouth of yours?”

There’s a glint in her gold-green eyes as a smile pulls at her lips. 

“Like this.”

First she just licks the head of his cock, teasing him a bit, but then she guides his cock into her mouth, little by little, inch by inch, hollowing out her cheeks, determined to take all of him. She whimpers a little as she starts to suck at him, intense resolve in her eyes.

“Yes, sweetheart, such a good girl, that’s perfect,  _ fuck _ .” 

She sucks at him with abandon and it’s  _ intoxicating —  _ her single-minded resolve and determination to take all of him, the feeling of her mouth, so wet and warm and soft around his cock, making a mess of it with her lipstick; it’s better than anything he could have ever imagined. 

He feels his breathing hitch as he gets closer,  _ closer—  _

“Rey,  _ fuckfuckfuck,  _ I’m going to — ”

He groans as he comes in her mouth, spilling all over her tongue and down her throat, and she seems to revel in it, closing her eyes and moaning. 

She pulls him out of her mouth and licks her lips while holding his gaze, a now familiar glint in her hazel eyes.

She is going to be the death of him.

Just then, Ben’s phone starts buzzing. “Fuck,” he mutters as he fumbles to pull his pants back on. He scrambles to pick his phone up off of the coffee table and sees it’s his alarm reminding him he has another interview for another story that he needs to be at soon.

Rey frowns. “Who is it?”

“I— ” Ben sighs as he quickly fumbles to button his belt. “I have another interview I need to get to. And this — this was very inappropriate, Miss Palpatine, surely you know that — ”

Rey folds her arms across her chest and frowns. 

“Please don’t give me the ‘this can’t happen again’ speech, when you know very well that you’re not going to be able to keep your hands off of me if we keep having these interviews.  _ Especially  _ when I provoke you, Mr. Silo,” she adds with a mischievous smirk. 

She really  _ is  _ going to be the death of him.

“We can discuss this later.”

“Well, whatever you do, don’t spend your next interview thinking about how you could be fucking me right now instead. How you could be fucking my tight, wet little pussy with that big,  _ big  _ cock of yours...how you could be playing with my tits, sucking on them while you fuck me into the mattress...how it would feel when I come on your cock...”

“Jesus Christ, Rey,” Ben mutters.

Rey just smiles primly. “We shouldn’t take the Lord’s name in vain, Mr. Silo,” she says with wide eyes and mock innocence. “ _ Anyway _ , you know how to get in touch with me,” she continues as she pulls her pants back on and zips them up. “So I look forward to hearing from you soon, Mr. Silo.”

“About our next interview,” he clarifies.

Rey smirks. Raises her eyebrows. Traps her bottom lip between her teeth. “Mmm, yeah. We’ll see.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this on [ Twitter!](http://twitter.com/darthswift13)


	3. 3

* * *

* * *

* * *


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note there is a content warning for emotional abuse in the text conversation between Palpatine and Rey towards the end of the chapter

* * *

Rey opens the door wearing nothing but her scant silk pajama set and a floor length pink silk robe that she has left open.

Ben’s eyes widen and he swallows thickly as he takes in the sight of her, and she relishes in the way that, for just the briefest moment, he loses all control, just from seeing her so scantily dressed. 

“Good evening, Mr. Silo,” she says, biting her lower lip and glancing up at him playfully. “Please come in,” she adds with a veneer of faux civility. 

He follows her inside, and as soon as the door is closed, he pushes her up against the wall, his hand finding her throat, his thumb on her lip, and she grins, like this was exactly what she wanted.

“Why the fuck aren’t you wearing any fucking clothes, Miss Palpatine?” he demands in a low voice.

“Oh, but I _am_ wearing clothes, Mr. Silo,” she points out with a defiant smirk.

He applies a light pressure to her throat and she gasps and then her eyes roll back into her head slightly as she bites back a smile, leaning her head back against the wall. She can feel how wet she’s getting already, relishing in the way he’s taking control over her. 

“ _You know what I mean, Miss Palpatine,_ ” he hisses.

“Mmm, but I think you _like_ it when I’m not wearing clothes,” she croons, reaching forward to grasp at where his cock strains against his pants. “You like it so much, it’s driving you _crazy_ , Mr. Silo,” she adds with a devilish smirk.

He tightens his grip on her throat and she whimpers. 

“You know that’s _not my fucking name_ , you brat. And here I was thinking you wanted my cock. Clearly you don’t, if you’re going to act like this.”

“I — ” she gasps out. “I’m sorry, Mr. Solo, I can be good for you, I’ll be so good, I’ll make you come so hard inside of me, promise.”

He takes his hand off her neck.

“Good girl,” he murmurs, leaning in to kiss her, their lips meeting in a hungry, open-mouthed frenzy that is all heat and no tenderness. 

He rocks up against her, his cock hard against her belly, his thigh finding its way between her legs, and she grinds herself against it, whimpering.

“Are you going to be a good girl and take your punishment?” he asks in a deep voice that makes her shiver, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “You know you need to be spanked for how you acted last night, and for opening up the door in these fucking tiny little pajamas, right?” 

She nods. “I’ll be so good for you, I promise, Mr. Solo. I’ll take my punishment like a good girl.” 

His hand glides up and down her torso a few times before slowly dipping into her pajama bottoms, and he shudders as he draws in a sharp breath, fingers teasing her folds. Rey moans loudly, the sound echoing through the marble floored foyer. 

“So fucking wet for me,” he murmurs. “You liked when I was choking you, didn’t you? Such a dirty girl.”

She nods and whimpers, bucking up against his fingers, desperate for more, _more,_ but _agonizingly,_ he pulls his hand away. 

“Where’s your bedroom, sweetheart?”

Rey grins. “Follow me, Mr. Silo.”

__________

Rey’s bedroom is just as decadent as the rest of the Palpatine mansion — her gold four poster bed is adorned with a pink velvet duvet and pink silk pillow cases. There’s a large white faux fur rug on the floor, and a massive, marble-topped vanity with gold legs and a huge three-way mirror. There’s a pink velvet ottoman stool in front of the vanity. Across from the bed is an ornate fireplace with dozens of candles on the mantle, and the curtains are dressed in pink velvet curtains with gold ties. But perhaps the most striking feature of Rey’s bedroom is the large framed print of Fragonard’s “The Swing.”

“I see you’re a fan of Rococo art,” Ben remarks. “I’ll be honest, Rococo has always been my least favorite style.”

Rey rolls her eyes. “Of course it is. Because you’re boring.”

“You think I’m boring?” 

Rey laughs. “ _Please_. You’re literally the most boring person I’ve ever met, Mr. Silo.”

“You don’t even know me, Miss Palpatine,” Ben mutters. 

Rey grins snidely. “And let’s keep it that way, shall we?”

“What speaks to you so much about this painting that you have it hanging in your bedroom?”

“I thought we were doing the interview _after_ you fuck me, Mr. Silo,” she points out irritably.

“It’s not an interview question. I’m just curious.”

“Well since you asked, I love ‘The Swing’ because it’s decadent and fun and presents an idealized vision of the _haut monde_ of the mid-18th century. I personally love the hedonistic nature of the subject matter, the symbolism about loss of innocence, and I think the composition with lush, loose brushwork and ornate details make it an icon of the Rococo style, which, incidentally, is by far my favorite.”

Ben just stands there for a moment, lips parted slightly, looking awed.

Rey rolls her eyes. “This whole thing where you act shocked that I’m actually really fucking smart is getting really, really old, Mr. Silo.”

“Miss Palpatine, I never doubted your intelligence, I was just impressed, that’s all.”

For some reason, Rey feels herself blushing. “Oh. Um. Well. Thanks.”

There’s an awkward silence and they avoid meeting each other’s gaze for a long moment, until Rey takes a step forward and tugs at Ben’s tie, trapping her lower lip between her teeth.

“Anyway,” she murmurs. “Where were we, Mr. Silo?”

“I was about to punish you for being such an impudent brat and doing things like calling me the wrong name on purpose, Miss Palpatine.”

Rey looks up at him with wide eyes and mock innocence. “You mean Mr. Silo _isn’t_ your real name?”

It’s _that_ that pushes him over the edge and she yelps as he lifts her up over his shoulder, taking her to the bed and forcefully bending her over his lap.

He tugs her pajama shorts down past her hips and then pulls them off the rest of the way.

And then he spanks her. _Hard._ And it stings so _deliciously_. She can’t help the loud moan that pours from her lips.

“You like that, don’t you?” he goads, spanking her again, somehow even harder this time. “Such a dirty girl.”

He spanks her again. “That’s for putting all those filthy, dirty thoughts in my head right before my interview.”

Another strike. “ That’s for saying you would ‘pencil me in’, like the impudent little brat you are.”

“You have to admit, it was kind of funny,” she chimes in with a smirk, which earns her another hard smack on her ass. 

She whimpers. “Sorry, Mr. Solo. It wasn’t funny. I can be good, I promise.”

“You better be, if you want my cock.”

He spanks her again. “That’s for refusing to tell me how wet I was making you last night.”

Another slap. “That’s for not telling me if you were thinking about my cock or not.” There’s tears in her eyes by now, but she still revels every delicious slap of his hand against her ass, which he’s surely left marks on by now. And that’s exactly what she wants.

He spanks her one final time. 

“And that’s for telling me ‘maybe’ when I asked to see you tonight. Fucking brat.”

Rey whimpers and moans.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Solo. I can be good for you now. Wanna make you feel good. Wanna make you come with your cock inside of me.”

“Mmm, I know baby,” he murmurs, gently rubbing his hand over where he had just spanked her. “Are you sure you can take all of me in this tight little pussy?” 

Rey nods. “I’ll be so good, I’ll take all of you. Just like I did in my mouth.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” he breathes out. “Sit up for me, sweetheart.”

For once, she does as she’s told.

“Are you okay?” he asks softly, and there’s a sudden tenderness in his dark eyes that she doesn’t like one bit. “Was that okay? I just wanted to check in and make sure— ”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Rey snaps. “I think you know by now I _like_ being punished. So, yeah, I’m fine.”

Ben swallows thickly. “Right. Okay. Like I said, I was just making su— ”

Rey pulls her shirt over her head and tosses it to the floor, leaving her completely naked on his lap, and all coherent thoughts seem to leave his mind as his eyes scan across every inch of her.

“ _Fuck_. Your tits are even more perfect than I thought they would be. Haven’t been able to stop thinking about them ever since yesterday when you were wearing that stupid fucking blazer. Wanted to tear it off of you from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

“Mmmm,” Rey murmurs. “I wish you would have.”

“Of course you do. Because you’re such a dirty girl,” he says in a low voice, before leaning forward and taking one of her breasts in his mouth, swirling his tongue around her pebbled nipple and making her cry out as she reaches up to rest her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. 

She digs her nails into his shoulders as he moves to her other breast and sucks bruises onto it. She rolls her hips, throwing her head back as she grinds herself onto him, and she’s certain she’s ruined his pants with how wet she is by now. 

He trails kisses back upwards until their lips meet again, his tongue deliciously pushing against hers as his hands knot into her hair, tugging at it slightly.

They fall back against the bed, and Rey desperately fumbles to tug his tie off, scrambling to unbutton his shirt and whining in frustration, which makes Ben chuckle.

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she huffs. 

“You need to be patient, sweetheart,” he replies firmly.

Rey pouts, sitting up and folding her arms across her chest. “Fine.”

He does something strange then: He _smiles_ at her. And there’s a certain... fondness to it. 

She doesn’t like that one bit.

What she _does_ like is seeing him quickly kicking his shoes and socks off, shrugging off his blazer, and unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way. She knows he said to be patient, but she’s not feeling particularly patient right now, so she reaches forward and starts to unbuckle his belt. 

He quickly pulls a condom out of his pocket and sets it beside him before tugging off his pants and boxers, letting them join the rest of his clothes on the floor. 

She takes in the sight of him laid bare before her, all broad shouldered with perfectly sculpted muscles, the way his cock is so red and hard and leaking precum already. All for her.

She’s never wanted someone so intensely as she wants him at this moment. 

She takes his face in her hands and kisses him deeply, _desperately_ and they fall back against her silk pillows.

He fumbles to find the condom and open the wrapper and quickly rolls it onto his cock before lining himself up against her entrance and Rey gasps as she feels him brushing against her, and then, all at once, he slides inside of her, and she cries out.

He fills her up and stretches her out and it’s... _intoxicating_. 

“Fuck,” Ben grinds out. “You feel so fucking perfect. Knew you would.”

Rey whimpers and starts rocking her hips against him, urging him to move and he does, slowly pulling out and then thrusting back into her.

“You’re so fucking _wet,”_ he croons. “Who made you this wet?”  
  


“You — you did, Mr. Solo,” she moans. 

“Mmm, that’s right. Good girl.”  
  


“Feels — s-s-o — so good, Mr. Solo. You’re so _big,_ you fill me up so good. _Fuck._ ”  
  


“Look at you, taking me so well in this tight, wet little pussy.” 

She writhes desperately beneath him. “Harder, Ben, _please_.”

He increases the pace and severity of his thrusts. “God, you’re such a dirty girl.”

“Fuck, yes, just like that, Ben,” she groans. 

“You like having my cock inside of you, don’t you, baby?”

Rey smirks devilishly. “Mmm, maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”

He halts his thrusts. His hand finds her throat and she gasps as he applies a light pressure there. 

“If you can’t be good, I’ll stop fucking you, Rey, I swear to God. Only good girls get to come on my cock.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Solo, I was a bad girl but I can be good now. Promise. Want you to come inside me. _Please_ , Mr. Solo.”

“Mmm. I like when you say please, sweetheart. Maybe you do deserve to come. But you don’t come until I tell you that you can come, do you understand?” 

Rey nods. “Yes, sir.”

“Much better. Good girl,” he murmurs, kissing her lips gently. She cries out as he resumes his thrusts and takes his hand off her neck, his thumb finding her clit. “Are you close?”

Rey whimpers as she nods. He fucks her hard and fast then, making the bed rock and squeak as he thrusts into her. Rey pulls him in closer to her, her nails running down his back, and he groans. 

“Ben, need to come so badly, _please_.” 

“Come for me, baby. Come on my cock. Need to feel you.”

She feels her orgasm building as he thrusts in and out of her, his thumb swirling on her clit and she’s close now, _so so close_ — 

Rey comes with a shout, her orgasm powerfully wracking over her body, her vision going white, the world melting away. It’s dizzying, the waves of pleasure that hit her again and again as her heartbeat blazes in her ears and her breath comes in hitched gasps. It’s so intense, it’s almost more than she can take. 

She’s never come this hard in her life. 

It occurs to her that this stupid, _boring_ journalist is going to ruin her for anyone else. 

She feels him bite on her shoulder as he comes with a grunt before collapsing on top of her for a brief moment. Once he catches his breath, he slides out of her and they lay beside each other, gasping for air.

“Fuck,” Rey mutters. “That was — ”

“I know.”

“I feel like I’m not going to be able to walk after that.”

“Mmm. Good,” Ben murmurs. 

He does another strange thing then: he reaches forward and brushes her hair out of her face, his touch light and gentle. 

She flinches and sits up, clearing her throat. “Anyway,” she says declaratively, reaching down to fish her robe off the floor before sliding it on. “I guess we have to do that stupid interview now,” she mutters as she ties the robe around herself.

“Right,” Ben says quietly. He takes a tissue from her nightstand and puts the condom in it before tossing it in the small garbage can she has near her bed, and then he reaches down and puts his shirt and pants on, fishing his notepad, pen, and phone out of his pocket and setting them on the bed. He doesn’t button his shirt all the way, which Rey appreciates tremendously. 

She lies down on the bed, posing like Kate Winslet in _Titanic,_ resting her fist on her chin and smirking at him. “Well, I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Rey,” Ben mutters through gritted teeth. “How do you expect me to focus on interviewing you when you’re lying there like... like _that_ wearing nothing but a fucking robe.”

“Mmm, that sounds like a personal problem.”

“Rey. I’m serious. This is my first big story and I need to get it right so I can impress my editor and hopefully get more big stories in the future.”

Rey sighs dramatically and rolls her eyes as she sits up. “ _Fiiiine._ So _boring,”_ she mumbles. “I’ll be right back.” 

She disappears into her walk-in closet briefly, and emerges in a Columbia University sweatshirt, oversized sheep pajama bottoms, bunny slippers, and her hair haphazardly affixed on top of her head with a bright pink scrunchie. 

Ben raises his eyebrows and smirks, suppressing a laugh and she throws a pillow at him playfully.

“Don’t laugh at me, Ben Solo, _you’re_ the one who said I looked distracting before.”

“You always look distracting,” he mumbles under his breath.

“What was that?”

  
He just smiles. “Nothing. Anyway. The interview.”

Rey sighs and rolls her eyes. “Oh. Yeah. That.” She sits across from him in criss-cross style. 

He turns on his voice memo app and opens his notepad.

“So, besides your interests in hair, makeup, and fashion, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?”

“Hmmm, well, I volunteer at a children’s summer camp as an art teacher,” she tells him. “We just finished camp for the summer last week, actually.”

Ben appears surprised again, much to her unending chagrin. “Wait, really?”

“If you’re going to keep acting so shocked like that, I’m going to throw another pillow at you, Mr. Silo,” she’s surprised that her tone comes across more playful than defiant for once. And even more surprisingly, he just smiles at her.

“What do you like best about volunteering at the summer camp?”

“Well, I specifically work with kids who are in foster care and don’t have very stable home lives, and making art can be a really good way for them to process their feelings and cope with trauma. It’s really meaningful and rewarding work for me, especially because — ” She draws in a sharp breath. She’s almost said too much. 

“Especially because what?”

She shakes her head.

“Nothing. Nevermind.”

Ben eyes her quizzically, but doesn’t push the issue. “Alright.”

“I guess I’m just curious, given your educational background and interest in working with kids, what made you choose a career as a — what’s it called again? A beauty influencer?”

“Please, let’s be honest here, I’m not really cut out for doing anything serious,” she remarks flippantly. “And besides, my grandfather — ” She stops short again. She keeps almost saying too much. She feels her chest getting tight and tears prickling in her eyes. And most annoyingly, Ben looks... _concerned_ for some unfathomable reason. 

“Rey, is — is everything alright?” he asks gently. 

She flashes a fake smile. “Yeah, I’m great, everything’s great, I’m just — er — tired, I’m just really tired. You really wore me out, you know. So maybe we can finish this interview tomorrow, then?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I said I’m fine, Mr. Solo,” she snaps icily. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ben seems unconvinced, but he doesn’t argue any further. 

“Okay,” he says quietly as he pulls on his blazer and drapes his tie around his neck.

“Just text me what time you want to have another interview or whatever,” Rey mutters.

“Sure,” Ben says distantly as he finishes tying his tie and putting his shoes on. “Good night then, Miss Palpatine.”

“Good night, Mr. Solo,” she mutters as she fidgets with the hem of her sweatshirt, not meeting his eyes.

He walks out of her bedroom and closes the door behind him.

And that’s when she lets herself do something she rarely gives herself permission to do: she cries.

* * *

  
Rey is currently listening to:

* * *

* * *


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note there are some slight references to emotional abuse and manipulation at the end of this chapter.

Rey opens the door for Ben wearing nothing but the white with black lace lingerie nightgown from her Instagram post, a devilish smirk plastered to her beautiful face.

She is really and truly going to be the death of him.

“Good evening, Mr. Silo,” she says, pretending to sound polite. “Do come in.”

“Good evening, Miss Palpatine,” he grinds out, and she smirks again, toying with him. She knows _exactly_ what she’s doing.

As soon as they’re inside he pushes her against the wall facing away from him and she grins.

“Well that isn’t a very polite way to greet your hostess.”

He pulls at her hair and she gasps. “When are you going to learn to put on some _fucking clothes,_ Miss Palpatine?” he says in a low voice.

“When are _you_ going to learn the difference between being naked and wearing clothing, because last I checked this _is_ technically clothing — ”

He spanks her forcefully and she cries out, the sound echoing through the foyer. 

“You know exactly what you’re doing. Brat.” He spanks her again and she shrieks. 

“Mmm, is that the best you can do, Mr. Silo?”

He tugs at her hair harder.

“You’re being particularly naughty tonight, Miss Palpatine.”

His hand glides lower so he can push up her nightgown and slap her bare ass — her soft, pert little ass that he can almost engulf with his whole hand. _Fuck._ She drives him absolutely insane, in a way no one else ever has. 

She cries out loudly as he strikes her ass again and again.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Solo, I’ll be good now, I promise. Want your cock. _Need_ your cock, need it so badly, haven’t been able to stop thinking about how good you felt inside of me. Please, Ben.”

He brushes her hair to the side, kisses the soft spot behind her ear. “Good girl,” he murmurs. 

“ _Please_ ,” she whimpers again. “F- feel how wet I am for you, need you to touch me.”

She reaches around and grabs his hand, guiding him to where she needs him to touch her.

He obliges, gently gliding one finger between her slick, wet folds and she gasps, shuddering. 

“Is this for me, baby?”

She nods furiously. 

“Such a good girl. I think maybe you deserve to come.”

“Please, Ben, please touch me, I’ll be so good — ”

She cries out as he slides two fingers inside of her without warning. 

“Is that what you wanted? Wanted me to fuck you with my fingers? Get you ready for my cock?”

She nods her assent. 

“Good girl.”

He thrusts his fingers harder, and he relishes in the way he can feel her getting wetter somehow — if that’s even possible. The sound of her moans are a sweet symphony in his ears, and he loves that they are because of him, _for_ him.

“Mmm, yes, Ben, fuck, that’s so good, that’s perfect, don’t stop — ”

He pulls his fingers out of her and drops to his knees. She whirls around.

“Mr. Solo, what are you — ”

She’s silenced when his mouth finds her cunt, the question giving way to a shocked little squeak. He lets his tongue glide between her folds, and he loves the way she all but screams, her hands coming down to knot in his hair.

“ _Ben_.” 

His name sounds so sweet on her lips. He buries his face in her, wet and warm and sweet and _perfect,_ all for him. He’s single-minded as he pulls one of her legs over his shoulder, desperate to devour her, wanting as much as she’ll give, licking into her with fervor.

She’s a babbling mess above him, her breath coming in hitched gasps, high-pitched, raspy whimpers and moans and _ohs_ spilling forth from her pretty pink lips, sweat beading on her forehead, eyes closed; she’s never been more beautiful.

She rolls her hips, rocking up against his face as she seeks more, _more._ And he is all too willing to give it. 

“I — ” she gasps. “I’m so — so close — ”

He slides two fingers inside of her as he continues to suck on her clit and it only takes a few pumps for her to clench around him as she comes, crying out his name. But he doesn’t stop there. He licks and sucks and fucks her with his fingers through her peak and it’s not long before he feels her coming again, making a mess on his face. 

She’s gasping for air now, freckled cheeks flushed pink, lips parted, letting out moans that sound like sobs. _“Bennn.”_

He licks his lips as he pulls away, before sliding his fingers in his mouth and licking up every last drop of her, all while holding her gaze.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she groans. 

He feels his cock, hard and needy as it strains against his pants, and he palms at it to give himself some semblance of relief.

He needs to be inside of her. 

He stands up and pulls her toward him, kissing her deeply, his tongue finding hers, biting down on her lower lip. Rey whimpers sweetly into his mouth. 

“Such a good girl, coming all over my face,” he murmurs. “You taste so good, baby. Knew you would.” 

He trails kisses down her neck and she throws her head back to accommodate him.

“Mr. Solo,” she whines. “Stop teasing. Need your cock. _Please.”_

“God, I fucking love it when you beg,” he murmurs against her neck. His lips find hers again, and then he adds, “Let’s go to your bed, sweetheart.”

____

When Ben gets to Rey’s room he notices her vanity and has an idea.

He takes her face in his hands and kisses her as he starts walking forward, and Rey stumbles backward until her bottom finds purchase on her vanity. 

“What are you...?” she looks up at him quizzically. “My bed is over there, Mr. Solo.”

He ignores her question. “Turn around.”  
  


Rey rolls her eyes. “ _Fine_ ,” she mutters irritably, leaning forward on her forearms. “So _bossy._ ” Her nightgown rides up behind her, and he can see the curve of her perfect ass and where her wetness pools between her thighs.

He spanks her and she cries out. “You don’t know when to shut that impudent little mouth of yours, do you?” He spanks her again. “Was gonna fuck you over this vanity but now I’m not so sure you deserve that. You know you have to be good if you want me to make you come.”

She turns to look back at him, and there’s a desperate, pleading look in her eyes.

“No, no, please, I can be good, please fuck me Ben, _please_ , I need it, I’ll be so good for you. I promise.” 

He runs his hand gently over where he had just spanked her and then up and down her torso. “Lean forward more for me. But I need you to look up into the mirror. Want you to watch me fuck you.”

Rey whimpers. “Yes, sir.”

He leans forward and drops a kiss to her cheek. “That’s much better. Good girl,” he murmurs, and he can feel her shiver. 

He unbuttons his belt and pulls a condom out of his pocket before taking his cock out of his boxers and putting the condom on. He shoves the wrapper in his pocket and lets his pants fall to the floor.

He forcefully pulls her toward him by her hip, his other hand guiding his cock to her entrance and then slowly inching inside of her. His eyes are glued to the mirror, watching the way her lips form an O shape, the way her hazel eyes darken, the way she moans once he is sheathed all the way inside of her, the way she watches him watching her.

He pulls back and then thrusts into her again but then she does something infuriating: she _yawns._ And she does it with dramatic flourish, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut, making an exaggerated yawning sound.

“Mmm, is that _really_ the best you can do, Mr. Silo?”

He spanks her _hard_ , making her cry out. 

“Why do you think you can talk to me like that, you fucking brat?” he growls against her ear, his hand coming to tug at her hair. He fucks her harder then, his thrusts taking on a fast, hard, punishing pace that makes the whole vanity shake. He spanks her again and she moans loudly. “Is this what you wanted, hmm? Wanted me to fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk for a week?”  
  


Rey nods. “Y-yes, Mr. Silo.”

He spanks her again. “When will you learn that that’s — ” He spanks her. “ — not — ” Another slap to her ass. “ — my fucking — ” Another spank, “— _name_ , Miss Palpatine.”

She moans. “I’m s-sorry, Mr. Solo. Just feels so - so good when you spank me”

“Yeah?” He spanks her again. “You like that, sweetheart? You like when I punish you? Such a dirty, dirty girl.”

Rey just nods, whimpering. She looks completely undone, bent over her vanity, her chestnut curls sticking to her sweat slicked forehead, cheeks flushed and lips parted, her tight little cunt around his cock bringing him closer and closer with each thrust. 

They’re both panting for air as he continues to fuck her hard and fast, the vanity rocking and squeaking, and, most deliciously, Rey’s moans in his ears and her pretty face in the mirror.

He tugs at her hair and makes her look directly at the mirror.

“Look at you. Letting me fuck you on your vanity. Taking my cock so well in this tight, wet little pussy. You have no idea how good it feels to be inside of you, baby, it’s — so — _fucking_ — perfect.”

His words come out in shorter bursts as he gets closer, _closer_ and all conscious thought begins to flee his mind and there is only this, only _her,_ losing himself in the unadulterated pleasure of sliding in and out of her perfect little cunt, reveling in the way she’s spread out in front of him, like she’s all his.

“ _Bennnn_ ,” she moans. “So close — need to come — p-please let me come, Mr. Solo.”

“Good girl — asking so sweetly — ” he gasps for air. “You can come now, sweetheart. Come for me, baby. Come on. Be a good girl and come on my cock,” he murmurs as he snakes his hand around to find her clit, and he’s barely touched it when he feels her cunt clenching around him as she comes, her whole body shaking beneath him as she shouts his name again and again. 

He’s never heard anything sweeter.

He keeps fucking into her until his hips halt suddenly, his whole body shuddering. He bleats out a choked “ _Rey”_ as he comes, his orgasm coursing through him like an electric shock.

They stay still for a moment, catching their breath until Ben slides out of her. He wants to scoop her up, take her to the bed, and wrap his arms around her. But he knows that would probably just upset her, so instead he wordlessly takes care of throwing out the condom. 

When he comes back to the vanity where Rey is still panting for breath, and every part of him wants to take care of her, to wipe the sweat from her cheeks and then hold her, dropping kisses to the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair. 

But she would never let that happen.

And, after all, he did agree to the conditions of their arrangement.

After a moment she sits up. “Fuck,” she breathes out. 

A smile plays on his lips. “Are you alright, sweetheart?’

“No,” she laughs. “Fuck. You wore me out. Again.”

“Sorry about that.”

She turns around. Narrows her eyes. “No you’re not,” she says playfully before pushing herself up on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. 

He would’ve liked to spend a lot more time kissing her, but she pulls away, sighing. 

“Anyway. Time for more interview questions, right?” she asks.

“Right,” he says quietly. 

“I’ll be right back.”

She disappears into her closet again, and while she’s gone, Ben puts his pants back on and sits on the edge of her bed. He takes his notepad, pen, and phone out of his pocket and sets his phone beside him, resting the notepad and pen on his lap. 

She emerges from her closet in a Columbia hoodie and oversized sweatpants, her hair tied up in a purple scrunchie. 

He wonders how it’s possible that she always manages to look so beautiful, even in her most casual clothes. She probably thinks she looks less distracting like this. 

As if she could ever _not_ be distracting to him.

She sits down beside him, closer than she had the night before. So close he could lean forward and kiss her if he wanted to.

There’s a long, tense silence as they sit there avoiding meeting each other’s eyes. After a moment she clears her throat and schooches back so she’s sitting criss-cross against the headboard, putting a considerable amount of distance between them on her king sized bed.

“You can start anytime now, Mr. Silo,” she remarks with an irritated sigh.

“Oh...right.” He opens his notepad. “So yesterday we were talking about some of your interests outside of makeup and clothes.”

“Right.” Rey chews on her lip while she gazes up at the ceiling, gathering her thoughts. “So, um...I don’t just love admiring and analyzing art, I also really love painting. I actually minored in visual arts with a concentration in painting in college. And I miss it a lot.”

“You miss it? So you’re not painting anymore?”

She shakes her head. 

“Not really. My grandfather thinks it’s a waste of time.”

Ben looks confused, his brows pushing together in concern.

“I don’t think it’s a waste of time if it’s something that makes you happy,” Ben says softly. “And I mean, why does it matter what your grandfather thinks about your hobbies?”

She shakes her head again. “Nevermind. It doesn’t matter. Anyway,” she continues, “I’ve been painting ever since I was a little girl and it always made me really happy and helped me, um...just helped me process a lot of things, I guess. I love working at the summer camp because it’s the only chance I ever get to paint anymore. It’s such a wonderful program, they really do great things for the kids. Sometimes I wish I could donate to the program instead of wasting my money on all the stupid shit I spend it on.” 

Ben looks confused again. “If you want to donate to the summer camp, why don’t you?”

“Oh, my grandfather would never allow it,” she says dismissively.

“What do you mean he ‘wouldn’t allow it’? You’re a grown woman, he can’t dictate how you spend your money, Rey.”

She sighs. “Nevermind. Next question, please.”

Ben eyes her quizzically for a long moment, but then flips his notepad to the next page.

“If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?”

“Oh, wow, that’s tough because there’s just so many people to choose from. There are so many Rococo painters like Fragonard and Watteau I would just _die_ to chat with, but then there are the impressionists too, ugh, like Degas? _Please_ , I would love to talk to Degas. And like, it’s cliche, but Van Gogh for sure. I may or may not have cried at the Van Gogh museum. I have a lot of feelings about Van Gogh, especially his _Sunflowers_ series — sunflowers are my favorite flower, incidentally.” Rey laughs, and the radiance of her smile is not unlike the effect of looking at Van Gogh’s _Sunflowers_. “Sorry, I was meant to just pick one, wasn’t I? I just have a lot of feelings about art.”

“Don’t apologize,” he says softly. “I like hearing you talk about art. I like hearing you talk about anything.”

The faintest hint of a blush colors her cheeks. “Oh, um, well, thanks, I guess?” She yawns. “Ugh, sorry.”

“I did wear you out, didn’t I?” Ben says with a smirk.

Rey tosses a pillow at him, smiling playfully. “Yes, you did, but you needn’t be so smug about it, Benjamin.”

He smiles back at her and they hold each other’s gaze for a long moment.

Rey darts her eyes to the ground and plays with the ends of her hair. 

“I guess I’ll let you get some rest, then,” Ben says quietly. He’s overcome with a sudden urge to lean forward and kiss her forehead, but he doesn’t. “We can finish the interview tomorrow?”

Rey shakes her head. “Tomorrow isn’t good, and neither is Saturday — I got out with my friends on the weekends.”

“Oh, okay. Monday then?”

“Yeah, Monday works,” Rey says with a nod, and then her lips twist into a smirk. “See you then, _Mr. Silo_.” 

“Already asking to get spanked and it isn’t even Monday yet,” Ben mutters, shaking his head with an amused smirk. “See you then, Miss Palpatine.”

“See you then, Benjamin,” she retorts, grinning. 

She’s so fucking cute he can hardly stand it.

As he walks out of her bedroom and closes the door behind him, he wonders to himself if he simply ignores his growing feelings for her, they will go away. 

  
  
  



	6. 6

**_Friday Night._ **

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

**_Jannah texts Kaydel._ **

* * *

* * *

* * *

**_Monday Night_ **

Rey is only wearing her pink bathrobe when she goes to open the door for Ben, but, for once, she is not in the mood to taunt and tease. She just _wants_ him with a ferocious intensity that scares the hell out of her. She wonders if, once he fucks her, she’ll be able to drown out all these mixed-up feelings that are bubbling up to the surface. She just wants to close her eyes and lose herself in the intoxicating sensation of his cock in her cunt. Because that’s all this is, right? Just two bodies, desperate for release.

She opens the door, and before he can say or do anything, she pushes herself up on her tiptoes and whispers, “Please just kiss me, Ben. Just kiss me.”

And he wastes no time obliging her request, taking her face in his hands and kissing her deeply.

They break the kiss to catch their breath and Rey tugs at his hand.

“Come here. Need you to fuck me, Ben.” 

She closes the door behind them and fiddles with his tie.

“I’ll be good for you tonight. And I mean it this time. I just need you inside of me, _please_.” There’s a quiet desperation in her eyes as she looks up at him. 

“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” Ben breathes out as he leans down to kiss her again. She kisses him back forcefully, like she’s devouring him. And it is not enough. She needs more, _more._

She starts desperately tugging at his tie and fumbling with the buttons of his shirt, and he huffs out a laugh as he gently grabs her wrists.

“Patience, sweetheart. We’re not even in your bed yet.”

She whines. “Ben, please.”

“Let’s at least get upstairs first, okay?”

Rey sighs. “Fine,” she mutters with a pout.

Ben chuckles and he smiles at her. Like he just can’t help it.

She doesn’t understand why anyone would smile at her.

__________

They fall back against the bed kissing. Rey is successful in undoing Ben’s tie the rest of the way and unbuttoning his shirt. He shrugs off his blazer and shirt, and she helps him take off his belt and his pants until he’s left only in his underwear. 

He is beneath her, her legs hitched on either side of him as she lowers herself down to find his lips, her naked cunt grinding against where his cock strains against his boxers. He shudders. His large hands run up and down her back, gliding against the pink silk fabric of her robe, her long, thick curls spread out around her shoulders. 

She bucks up against him and whimpers. “ _Ben_.”

“Take this off for me, sweetheart.” He tugs at her robe, and she does as she’s told, shrugging it off her shoulders and letting it fall onto her pink velvet duvet. 

“Good girl,” he murmurs, his hand absentmindedly running up and down the side of her torso. His eyes are worshipful as he looks up at her, lips parted slightly. No one has ever looked at her like _that_ before, and she feels her cheeks flushing red.

She leans down to kiss him again so she doesn’t have to think about how he was looking at her, and instead can lose herself in the intoxicating way he kisses her, his tongue exploring her mouth with flicking and rolling motions. Her cunt throbs as she remembers how it felt to have his tongue inside of her.

She bucks up against him again, and he groans. His hand glides between their bodies, sliding up between her legs and finding her cunt, his fingertip brushing along her labia. A tiny, desperate sound escapes from the back of Rey’s throat.

“Fuck. So wet for me already.”

“Ben, _please_ ,” she pleads, reaching into his boxers. He gasps and his eyes flutter shut as she strokes his cock. 

His voice shakes when he says her name.

She pulls off his boxers the rest of the way, the same desperate look in her eyes. He reaches for his pants where they lay beside them on the bed and pulls the condom out of his pocket, hurriedly opening the wrapper and rolling it on.

She lowers herself onto him, inch by inch, her mouth forming an O shape, her eyes locked on his, until he is fully sheathed inside of her.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she breathes out. “Feels— so— s-so good — ”

His hands find her hips. “You’re perfect, sweetheart. Fuck.”

She lifts her hips and then lowers herself back down, again, again, _again_ . Always desperate for more — more friction, more sensation, more of _him._

There is intensity and resolve in his eyes and something else she can’t quite name as he holds her gaze.

He hits all the secret places deep inside of her and ignites all these terrifying technicolor feelings that she has never known with anyone else.

And when he looks at her like _that,_ his amber eyes locked onto her with such intensity and something almost like adoration, she feels like maybe, just _maybe_ she could open up to him, tell him all the secrets she could never tell anyone else and _maybe_ , just maybe, he might stay. 

But it’s a fool’s notion. She knows better by now.

She buries her face in the crook of his neck so he can’t see her start to cry. But he must feel the tears pooling there because he stops moving suddenly and rests a hand on her head.

“Rey? Are you okay? Why are you crying? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m not crying,” she insists with a sniff.

“Yes, you are. I can feel your tears, sweetheart,” he says quietly.

He pulls himself out of her but then quickly draws her close to his chest.

“What’s wrong, Rey? You can talk to me,” he murmurs.

She doesn’t reply, just cries harder. And she doesn’t even know _why_ she’s crying; all she knows is the feeling of his arms around her and his hands gently running up and down her back feel like a salve for all the long-buried hurts that she can’t even begin to name yet.

She should be embarrassed. She should ask him to leave immediately. 

But for some reason, she just lets herself cry.

And for some reason, she lets herself fall asleep in his arms. 

Because for some reason, for the briefest moment, she lets herself indulge in the fantasy that maybe someone could understand.

That maybe someone would stay.

And maybe that someone could be him.

  
  



	7. 7

Ben wakes up throughout the night, partly because he’s concerned about Rey, and partly because he’s convinced she’ll wake up at any moment and ask him to leave.

But she doesn’t. She sleeps peacefully in his arms. She smells like expensive floral-sweet perfume. He breathes her in. Holds her close. Runs his hand through her soft chestnut curls. Tries to memorize this moment because he’s certain she will never let him hold her like this again. 

He remembers how he thought if he just ignored his growing feelings for her they would go away. Now he knows he was foolish to ever think he could stop himself from falling for Rey Palpatine.

***

Rey’s eyes slowly creep open. She quickly becomes aware of a pair of strong arms holding her tightly, and then the memories of last night come rushing back, and with it, the feeling of abject humiliation.

She sits up quickly, and Ben stirs. When he opens his eyes he just studies her face, as if trying to gauge her reaction to the situation before saying or doing anything.

She must look as horrified as she feels because he just quietly says, “Do you want me to leave?”

She wants to say yes. But, bafflingly, before she can stop herself, she blurts out, “ _Don’t leave me_.” It feels like a plea from somewhere deep in her subconscious. And now she feels more humiliated than ever, but Ben’s face softens.

“Okay,” he says softly. “I won’t leave then, sweetheart.”

_Oh, but you will,_ she thinks to herself. But maybe she can have him for at least a couple more hours.

“I mean, it’s just that you didn’t ask me any interview questions last night.”

“About last night — ”

“Yeah, I would really, _really_ appreciate it if we didn’t talk about that.”

“Okay. I just want you to know though, you don’t have to feel embarrassed or think you made things weird or anything, I was just worried, and you can ta— ”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it, Mr. Solo,” she snaps icily.

  
“Right,” he says quietly. “Understood.”

There’s a long, awkward silence before Rey sits up and grabs her robe from where it ended up at the foot of the bed and hastily throws it on. 

“I, uh — are you hungry or anything? Sorry, I’ve never had anyone stay over before, so I don’t really know how this works. I also don’t have food in the house. I always get takeout. But, uh, I was probably going to order Starbucks, if you want anything?”

“Sure, Starbucks sounds great.”

“Alright. Great. Brilliant. Let me just find my phone.”

“It’s over here on your nightstand,” Ben says, handing it to her.

“Thanks,” she mutters, taking the phone and sitting down at the edge of her bed.

She opens the Uber Eats app while Ben starts getting dressed behind her on the other side of the bed. “What do you want?”

“Uh...just a black coffee and a plain bagel is fine.”

Rey rolls her eyes, turning to look at him with a smirk. “God, you’re so _boring,_ Mr. Silo.”

“So you’ve mentioned,” he says, shaking his head, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Brat.”

Rey just grins at him playfully, scrunching up her nose as she smirks, before turning back to her phone. “Okay, it’ll be here in twenty minutes.”

“What are you getting?”

“A venti caramel frappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. And three cake pops,” she replies as she sets her phone down on her night stand

Ben chuckles. “That sounds more like dessert than breakfast.”

“Mmmm, I don’t remember asking for your opinion, Mr. Silo,” Rey replies, raising an eyebrow as she crawls across the bed toward him.

“Someone already wants to be punished and we haven’t even had breakfast yet,” he murmurs as he leans forward to kiss her. Rey smiles into the kiss, sighing contentedly.

She crawls onto his lap and takes his face in her hands so she can kiss him more deeply as he wraps his arms around her, running his hands up and down her back.

She pulls away from the kiss. “Well, I’m _waiting_ , Mr. Silo.”

He reaches forward and brushes her hair out of her face. “We have to do the interview still, sweetheart.”

Rey pouts. “Fine.”

“You’re cute,” he says with a smirk. “But don’t worry, you’ll get your punishment after,” he murmurs in a low voice, his lips brushing up against the shell of her ear, and she shivers.

“You’re a _tease_ , Benjamin Silo,” she says as she folds her arms across her chest.

“And that’s not my name, Miss Palpatine,” he mutters as he leans in to kiss her again. 

She giggles into the kiss.

“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” Rey informs him with a grin.

She likes this. Being playful with him. She tries not to think about the fact that it’s only fleeting. 

He holds her gaze for a long, tense moment, and there’s tenderness in his eyes as he reaches out his hand to touch her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. 

Rey flinches away suddenly, clearing her throat. 

“Um, so, you were going to ask more interview questions, right?” she asks, her eyes shifting to look downwards at the bedspread as she nervously plays with her hair.

Ben nods. “Right,” he says quietly, retrieving his notepad and his phone from his pocket.

“So,” he starts, fishing a pen out of his pocket and clicking it on, “I notice you have an English accent. So I was just wondering — when did you come to the U.S., and how long have you been here?”

“Oh, er, yeah I grew up in the U.K. and came here for uni, which is around the time my grandfather found out I existed and my whole life changed.”

Ben tilts his head. “What do you mean?”

“I— ” Rey takes a deep breath, not meeting his eyes as she continues to play with the ends of her hair. “My parents, um...they weren’t exactly in my life growing up. They didn’t want me so I never knew them. But when they died — right around the time I was applying to universities — that’s when my grandfather found out about me, when their obituaries were in the paper saying they were survived by their daughter.”

There’s so much more that she left out, but even saying those few words out loud feels like too much. Like _she’s_ too much. 

“Anyway, I, um, I had next to nothing growing up, so I’m very, very grateful for all my grandfather’s generosity. Which is why I can’t really complain that — ” she sighs. “Nevermind.”

“Can’t complain that what?” Ben asks softly.

“I said _nevermind_ ,” Rey snaps. 

“Right. I’m sorry.”

There’s a long silence before Rey finally speaks again.

“But yeah, I came from nothing, basically,” she explains. “I didn’t grow up in fancy mansions or anything. I had no idea who the hell Sheev Palpatine was, or that he had loads of money, or that I happen to be related to him, until seven years ago. I would still be nothing if he had never come into my life, honestly.”

“You could never be _nothing,_ Rey, not to me. Your worth as a person isn’t defined by how much money you have or where you come from. And you had an academic scholarship to Columbia so you were clearly already a very accomplished person, even before your grandfather came into your life.”

Rey sighs, exasperated. 

“You don’t get it. No one wanted me before I had money. Not my parents, not any of my foster parents, not any of the kids at school. Art was the only thing I had, the only thing that kept me sane. When I put a paint brush to paper it made me feel like maybe my life had a purpose, like maybe I wasn’t nothing. I studied my ass off for my A-levels and got perfect marks just to try to prove that I was worth something. 

“But it still never feels like enough. I never feel good enough. Even at Columbia, I had a 4.0, but I was still so lonely. Until I started getting makeup brand deals that wanted the Rey Palpatine seal of approval and got hundreds of thousands of followers and comments and I felt like people cared about my existence for the first time. And I finally made friends — albeit friends who I feel like only like me for my status, but friends nonetheless. At least I’m not completely alone anymore. And I feel like if I ever lost all of this, I’ll be alone again. I’ll be nothing again.”

Ben looks confused. “Lose what? Your inheritance? Your social media following? Why do you think you would lose those things?”

“It’s just...complicated.” Rey sighs, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Rey. Your worth isn’t tied to how much money you have or how many followers you have or your grades or anything like that. I hope you know that.”

She lifts her head up. “I don’t think journalists are supposed to offer their opinions, remember?” she says sharply.

“It’s not an opinion, Rey. It’s a fact.”

“God, will you just _stop,_ Ben!” she all but shouts, tears pooling in her eyes. “Stop trying to care about me. I never asked for you to care about me. In fact, I explicitly asked you to do the exact _opposite_ , if I recall correctly. So please just stop. You think you know me, but you don’t. You don’t know me at all, and if you did, you wouldn’t care about me. You like the _idea_ of me. You like the idea of saving the poor little rich girl. Well, I don’t want your pity and I don’t need your help. I was perfectly fine before you came into my life and — and — ”

_Made me_ feel _things_ , she wants to say. _Made me believe that maybe I could be something other than my grandfather’s puppet. Made me believe that I could leave all this shallow bullshit behind and lead a life that actually means something to me._

Now Ben looks close to tears. “Rey, I — ”

“I think you should go, Mr. Solo,” Rey says distantly. She’s certain that’s what he’s already thinking, anyway. 

“If that’s what you’d like, Miss Palpatine,” Ben says without meeting her eyes.

“It is.”  
  


“Okay,” he says quietly. He puts his notepad, pen, and phone back in his pockets.

She watches him stand up and walk away from her.

_Please look back please look back please look back. Please don’t leave me._

He doesn’t look back. He closes the door behind him when he leaves.

She buries herself in her pillows and cries, feeling embarrassed, feeling like an idiot, and feeling completely confused about all her feelings.

And that’s when she hears a quiet knock at her door. 

“Ben?” Rey scrambles to get herself together and wipe away her tears as she makes her way to the door and opens it to find Ben there holding their Starbucks order.

“The Uber Eats driver was outside when I got there,” he explains. “I can still leave if you want me to, I just wanted to make sure you got your dessert.”

She fights back a smile at that. “It’s _breakfast_ , thank you very much, Mr. Silo.” His lips flicker into a smirk at being called that again. She takes the Frappuccino and the bag labelled “cake pops” from Ben. “Thank you,” she adds softly, looking up at him shyly. _Thank you for coming back to me,_ some embarrassing, contemptibly needy part of her seems to clamor.   
  


“You can, um...you can come sit down. If you want,” she offers. 

“I’d like that.”

She takes a seat on the floor and leans up against the bed and Ben sits beside her. They sit in silence, eating their food and drinking their coffee.

“I’m not used to opening up to people. About my childhood and such,” Rey says quietly, staring forward at her vanity stool. “It scares me. That’s why I acted like that.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m embarrassed,” she admits.

“Don’t be,” Ben says softly, resting his hand on top of hers. “And just so you know, no matter how hard you try to push me away, I’m not going to stop caring about you. And I know you don’t want me to care about you but I do, and I’ve tried to stop, and I can’t. And if that means you don’t want to see me anymore, then I get it. But I just needed to put that out there.”

“I don’t want to stop seeing you, Ben,” she says quietly. She lifts her eyes until they meet his and then slowly leans toward him until their lips meet in a gentle kiss. She giggles. “You taste like black coffee. _Disgusting_.”

He smiles. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. Maybe black coffee isn’t so bad after all,” she murmurs, leaning forward to kiss him again. She kisses him deeply, with all the fervor and passion of her bright burning red mixed up feelings, taking his face in her hands and letting her tongue glide through his parted lips. She hopes that maybe she can somehow convey what she’s scared to admit, even to herself.

_I’m sorry. I like you, too. I like you so much it scares me._

His hands glide up and down her back as he pulls her in close to him and kisses her just as fervently. She hitches her leg over him so she’s straddled on his lap and he does not protest. She rocks her hips, pressing up against where he’s already getting hard.

“You said I would get my punishment after the interview and breakfast, and, well —”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” he murmurs. Just then, his phone vibrates in his pocket. He sighs in frustration as he pulls it out. “Fuck. I have another interview I have to be at.”

Rey frowns, folding her arms across her chest. He smiles at her.

“You’re very cute, have I told you that before?”

Rey’s cheeks flush pink. “You might’ve mentioned it,” she mumbles.

He kisses her forehead. “I’ll text you, okay?”

“Okay,” Rey says softly.

She pulls on his tie to bring his lips down to meet hers one more time before he goes.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow night, then?” she asks.

“See you tomorrow night,” he says softly, kissing her lips one final time before standing up to leave. 

* * *

_**Ben is currently listening to:** _   
  


_**** _


	8. 8

* * *

* * *

When Rey opens the door for Ben, a disturbing thought occurs to her: she  _ missed  _ him. She feels a sudden rush of warmth flooding her chest, a smile involuntarily pulling at her lips.  _ You just saw him yesterday,  _ she scolds herself. She hates the way she feels herself growing attached to him, especially when she knows he’ll only leave her in the end.

She tries to banish these thoughts from her mind, and focuses instead on the way the buttons on his shirt strain against his broad chest, the way his large hands fiddle with his cufflinks, the tight line of his collar on his neck, the way he towers over her, the way his amber eyes darken when he sees her, the way he smells like a delicious combination of cologne and aftershave, the way she just wants to  _ devour  _ him.

She smirks. “Good evening, Mr. Silo,” she says with raised eyebrows. “Do come inside.”

He follows her into the house and closes the door behind him.

“That’s not my name, brat,” he mutters as he pulls her in for a kiss, his hand snaking behind her to grab her ass before spanking it, and she makes a surprised yet delighted sort of squeak. He breaks the kiss as his eyes hungrily scan across her body. She’s just wearing her pink satin robe. 

“Miss Palpatine,” he says through gritted teeth. “When are you going to learn to put some  _ fucking clothes on  _ before you answer the door?” He spanks her again and she moans.

She grins snidely. “A robe  _ is  _ technically clothing, Mr. Silo.”

He turns her around and pushes her up against the wall and then he spanks her again. 

“When are you going to learn to shut that impudent little mouth of yours?” Another smack of her ass. “There were other things I need to spank you for too, right? Like making fun of my Starbucks order?” He spanks her again. “Calling me boring?” he spanks her another time.

This is perfect, she thinks. When she’s faced away from him like this she doesn’t have to deal with the fact that his warm hazel eyes make her heart melt into the floor, especially when those hints of tenderness flicker in them. 

She closes her eyes as he whispers filthy things in her ears and spanks her again and again, reveling in the way it stings so  _ deliciously,  _ and in the way his deep voice sends shivers down her spine and makes her wetter and wetter with each dirty thing he whispers in her ear.

She’s lost track of how many times he’s spanked her when she feels his hand gently rubbing her ass over the silk fabric of her robe as he drops a kiss to the soft spot behind her ear.

“Such a good girl, taking your punishment so well. I think you’ve been so good, you deserve to come on my cock.”

Rey whimpers, nodding. “Please, Mr. Solo.”

  
  


***

Once they've made their way upstairs and discarded their clothes, she feels a rush of emotions sitting heavily on her chest as he lays her down on the bed with gentle kisses, his eyes soft and adoring. Her eyes flutter shut as his lips, warm and soft and gentle, find her neck, while one hand engulfs one of her breasts and squeezes gently, the other hand gliding up between her legs. His fingertip runs through her folds and she shudders.

“ _ Ben _ .” 

“So wet for me,” he breathes out, appreciation evident in his tone. She arches her back and cries out as she feels him sliding a finger inside of her. 

“Shh, hold still for me, baby,” he murmurs.

Rey whines. “Please don’t tease, Mr. Solo. Just need your big cock inside of me.  _ Please _ .”

A wolfish smile tugs at his lips. “Such a good girl, asking for my cock so sweetly.”

“Ben, please, I — I need — I need you.” The words feel heavier once they’ve left her lips, as if she’s referring to more than just sex. 

His lips find hers and he kisses her deeply, his tongue gently brushing against hers as he continues to pump his finger inside of her.

“Need you too, sweetheart. Need to be inside of you.”

“ _ Please _ ,” she whines.

He gently pulls his finger out of her and she watches as he slides it into his mouth, holding her gaze while he licks up every last drop of her. Rey gasps, lips parting slightly as she watches him tasting her. 

“ _ Fuck _ , you always taste so good, baby. So sweet,” he murmurs. 

And then,  _ finally,  _ she watches as he puts on the condom and guides his cock toward her entrance. Her breath comes in hitched gasps as he slowly eases into her. She breathes out his name, his eyes trained on hers. 

He slowly thrusts in and out of her, and there’s an...  _ intensity  _ in his eyes that scares her. 

“Does that feel good, sweetheart?” he murmurs.

“S-so good,” she whimpers. “You always feel so good inside of me, Ben.”

She should squeeze her eyes shut tight so she doesn’t have to watch him look at her like...like  _ that.  _ But she can’t bring herself to do it. And it terrifies her just how much she wants to drown in the ferocity of his adoring gaze.

She lets her hands glide up and down the broad expanse of his back, her lips finding his, tasting him,  _ savoring  _ him.

When he breaks the kiss, his lips brush against her ear as he speaks, his voice a low rumble. “God, you’re so fucking  _ tight. _ Fuck.” He starts thrusting faster. “Are you gonna come for me, baby? Gonna be a good girl and come on my cock?”

Rey nods. “Yes, sir.”

He smiles, his breath becoming more ragged as he thrusts more quickly in and out of her. “Such a good girl,” he murmurs. 

She holds his gaze as he thrusts into her again, again,  _ again _ , each push more intoxicating than the last as he fills her so perfectly.

“Need to come, sweetheart,” he pants out. “Are you close?”

She nods. “So close, Ben,” she manages between panting breaths.

  
She shrieks as his thumb finds her clit while he continues to thrust deep inside of her. “Come for me, baby. Need you to come. Need to feel you.”

And maybe it’s his thumb on her clit or his permission or the intense way he’s looking at her, but her orgasm crashes over her suddenly and powerfully. She cries out his name, the edges of her vision going white, her nails digging into his back as her whole body trembles.

She’s only vaguely aware of his hips halting as he grunts and collapses on top of her when he comes.

And there it is again: the warmth in her chest, and an inexplicable urge to rub his back and run her fingers through his hair and hold him close to her.

But before she can do any of these absurd things, he pulls out of her and collapses beside her as he struggles to catch his breath.

***

Ben knows they need to do their interview now, but he wants nothing more than to pull Rey close to him and hold her tight. But he doesn’t know if she would want that, and the thought stings a little. Ever since she let herself fall asleep in his arms, he had selfishly and foolishly hoped she might let it happen again.

Before he can stop himself, he reaches over and gently runs his fingers through her hair. Almost predictably, she sits up straight suddenly and clears her throat.

She fishes her robe off the floor and slides it on before sitting down again, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and leaving a considerable gap between them.

“Interview time, right?”

Ben nods. He suddenly finds himself wondering if she’ll still want to see him even after the interviews are over. He decides he won’t worry about that right now, because at least in this moment he’s here, with her, in her bed. And at least for this moment, she wants him here.

He takes care of throwing out the condom and quickly dresses himself, forgoing his jacket and tie and just putting on his shirt half-buttoned.

Rey looks remarkably cute as usual, sitting with her arms hugging her legs against her chest, her cheek resting on her knee, just watching him with a slight smile on her lips.

“Well, I’m ready whenever you are, Mr. Silo.”

He just smiles, shaking his head as he opens his notepad.

“Not my name,” he mutters without looking up.

“I know.” He can hear the smirk in her voice.

She’s going to be the death of him. 

“So we’re almost done with the interview questions,” he starts to say, and when he looks up at her, he swears he sees her face falter somewhat. But maybe he’s just projecting.

“Oh,” is all she says to that.

“Anyway,” he continues, turning on the voice memo app and setting his phone on the bed. “If you weren’t an Instagram influencer and could have any job in the world, what would it be?”

“Oh, well, um,” She starts to say. “Growing up, I always kind of wanted to be an art teacher. I, um...” She takes a deep breath, her eyes glued to the floor. “While I was being bounced around to different foster homes as a kid, I didn’t really have any adults consistently in my life. Except for Miss Kanata, my art teacher.”

Her face lights up into a smile when she mentions her teacher’s name. 

“She saw my talent for painting and really encouraged me to pursue it. She made me feel like maybe I wasn’t actually worthless and like I had a purpose in this world. She helped me see how art could help me process a lot of the things I was going through. And I don’t know, I just always kind of wanted to be that person for someone, too. And I love getting to teach art at the summer camp, but it’s only a few weeks every year. I would give anything to be able to teach art full-time, honestly.”

Ben looks up, a quizzical expression on his face. “Then why don’t you?”

Rey sighs. 

“Ben, we’ve talked about this, I’m not really cut out for that kind of thing.”

“And who told you that, Rey? Because it’s a lie. You would be an amazing art teacher.”

“It’s just not that simple,” she says quietly, her eyes still locked onto the floor. “My grandfather — ”

She draws in a shaky breath, and he can see tears forming in her eyes.

He moves over closer to her, resting his hand on top of hers. “Rey,” he says softly. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

She pulls her hand away suddenly and uses it to wipe her tears. 

“Nothing,” she says tightly.

He remembers how upset the last time they talked about her childhood and her grandfather, so he decides not to push the issue. “Okay,” he says quietly. 

She sniffles and turns to look at him, and then she does something that surprises him: she crawls over and curls up on his lap, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.

He sets his notepad and pen down and wraps his arms around her, squeezing her tightly and kissing the top of her head. He runs his hands gently up and down her back.

“I wish I could tell you, you know,” she says it so quietly he can barely hear her. “There’s so much I wish I could tell you. But I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“You don’t have to tell me everything right now, sweetheart,” he says softly, running his fingers through her hair.

“Will you stay with me? For the night again?”   
  


He can feel her holding her breath after she asks this. As if his answer would ever be anything other than, “Of course, Rey.”

He feels her let out the breath she was holding as she cuddles up against him. 

“Good,” she murmurs, sighing contentedly.

He holds her closely. 

  
He never wants to let go.    
  


***

A while later, Rey finds that while she feels safe and warm in Ben’s arms, her mind is still wide awake thinking about what they discussed during the interview. He’s sound asleep, and she slowly reaches over to pick up her phone, being careful not to wake him.


	9. 9

Rey wakes up to the soothing sensation of Ben gently running his fingers through her hair, his other arm holding her close to him. Her head is resting on his chest. 

She feels warmth spreading through her chest as she looks up at him with sleepy eyes.

  
“Hi,” she murmurs groggily.

Ben smiles at her. “Good morning, sweetheart.” 

“How long have you been awake?”

“Oh, not long.”

She scooches herself up a little bit so she can kiss him. When she pulls away, she giggles slightly, scrunching up her nose. “You have morning breath, Mr. Silo.”   
  


“So do you,” he counters playfully. He leans in close to her again. “But I don’t mind,” he murmurs. 

He presses a soft, tender kiss to her lips. 

She reaches forward and touches his cheek, his skin soft and warm under her fingertips. She can feel a slight hint of stubble there. He closes his eyes, leaning into her touch.

“Thank you for staying the night again, Ben,” she says quietly.

He opens his eyes and gingerly takes her hand and moves it over to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. “I’ll stay over any time you want, sweetheart.”

“Even — even after you’re done with the interviews?”

“Yes, Rey. I told you — I care about you, and I meant that. I want to keep seeing you. For as long as you’ll let me.”

“Oh,” Rey says softly, not quite sure how to respond to that, especially when every part of her seems to scream,  _ you don’t mean that _ and  _ if you really knew me you wouldn’t say that.  _ But everything feels so...  _ different  _ with him. She has all these intense feelings she’s never felt before, and she doesn’t know quite what to do with them. It  _ scares  _ her just how much she liked waking up in his arms, and how much she wishes she could do that more often. 

The sound of Ben’s stomach growling snaps her out of her reverie. “Are you hungry? I can order Starbucks again, if you’d like.”

“Yeah, Starbucks would be great,” Ben says with a yawn.

She sits up and reaches over to the nightstand for her phone and pulls up the UberEats app. “Just a plain coffee and a plain bagel again, I presume?”

“Yes, please.”

Rey rolls her eyes. “So boring.” She sets down her phone again and crawls back over to him.

“Sometimes I feel like you’re just asking to be punished. Brat,” he mutters, pulling her close and then reaching under her robe to pinch her ass, making her yelp. But then she smirks.

“Mmm, maybe I am, Mr. Silo,” she says with a raised eyebrow as she leans in towards him until their lips meet. He chuckles into the kiss and then pulls back. Rey pouts, and he smiles at her, reaching forward to stroke her cheek. “I didn’t finish all of my interview questions last night, sweetheart.”

She sighs forlornly. “Fine,” she grumbles.

He smiles and kisses the tip of her nose, making her scrunch it up.

“You’re so fucking cute,” he mumbles, and she feels herself blushing. 

He leans in and steals another quick kiss before putting his pants and his shirt on and taking out his notebook, pen, and phone.

“So I’ve been wondering, what is it about painting that you love so much?”

Rey’s face lights up when he asks this.

“Oh, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Just the feeling of the brush against the canvas is everything. I love the buttery texture of oil paint in particular, just the give and take between the brush and the canvas, pigment on top of pigment. I don’t know, like, painting isn’t exactly en vogue in the art world these days, but it just speaks to me in a way nothing else does. I feel like I see the world through new eyes when I’m painting, and I feel like I can express my feelings in a way I never could in words. Sometimes I feel like my brain never shuts off, I’m constantly overthinking and overanalyzing and just worrying about everything, but as soon as I take a brush to paper, it’s like all of that melts away.” She gets quiet then, fidgeting with the tie of her robe. “I miss it a lot,” she says softly.

When she looks up again it occurs to her how much she would love to paint Ben, and how maybe in doing so she could somehow express a fraction of what she feels for him. And then she would have a piece of him she could hold onto him forever, even after he inevitably leaves.

She sighs, looking down at the pink silk fabric of her robe belt again. “But I wouldn’t even be able to buy art supplies without my grandfather knowing, and given what happened the last time I tried to buy art supplies — ” She draws in a shaky breath. Ben doesn’t say anything, but when she glances up, his brows are pushed together and his eyes are fraught with concern. 

He reaches over and gingerly places his hand atop her own, and she holds his gaze for a long moment, before pulling her hand away abruptly and averting her eyes. “Nevermind. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

There’s a long silence before Ben speaks again.

“What you were saying about painting and how it’s the only time your brain shuts off — I just, I know what that’s like. That’s how I feel about writing. I —” He takes a deep breath. “When I was a kid I was sent away to boarding school because, well...it’s a long story, but suffice to say my parents didn’t want to deal with me.” He pauses for a long moment. “Anyway, writing helped me take my mind off of everything I was dealing with then, and helped me to sort of process and make sense of it. And when I joined the school newspaper, it gave me a sense of accomplishment and purpose at a time when I felt worthless. And I’m pretty shy, too, so writing articles about people helped make it easier for me to talk to people and make friends. But the newspaper advisor, Mr. Snoke, always told me my writing wasn’t any good and I’d never be successful and I should pursue something else. He said a lot of things like that to me, and not just about my writing. I’m glad I didn’t listen to him, but I don’t know — and this probably sounds stupid because it was so long ago — but the things he said to me still kind of haunt me. I still kind of feel like a fraud and the success I’ve had so far has all been a mistake. That’s why I really want to get this story right because it’s my first really big story for this magazine and I guess I just really still feel like I have to prove myself, even after all these years.”

He sighs, shaking his head slightly. “Sorry, we’re supposed to be talking about you, I didn’t mean to make this about me.”

“No, it’s okay. Really,” Rey assures him, and this time she’s the one resting her hand on top of his. “And your writing is very good, for what it’s worth,” she adds with a slight smile.

Ben tilts his head slightly, a quizzical expression on his face. “How do you know if my writing is good?”

“Oh, I, um...may have Googled you,” she tells him. “But, um, only so I could see if the person writing about me was any good, of course.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You Googled me?”

She tosses a pillow at him. “Shut up, Ben Solo,” she mutters, her cheeks going red. He just smiles at her. “Anyway. For what it’s worth, I read a lot of your articles, and I think they were all very, very good. You’re a great writer and anyone who says otherwise is either a liar or a dumbass or both.”

“Thank you, Rey. It means a lot to me that you like my writing,” he says softly.

“It does?”

“Yes.”

There’s another tense silence.

“Did you have any more questions?” Rey asks finally.

“I think I have pretty much everything I need. I guess my last question would just be, is there anything else you’d like to add? Anything else you want people to know?”

“Hmmm,” Rey muses. “I guess I just feel like everyone thinks they know me, but no one really does. I feel like everyone likes the  _ idea  _ of Rey Palpatine, the glamorous heiress, but no one knows the real me. And I feel like no one would like me if they did.” 

“But I like you,” Ben blurts out. 

“You still don’t really know me,” Rey says quietly, darting her eyes to her pink velvet bedspread.

“I’d like to, though. If you’d let me.”

Rey sighs, exasperated. “But if you really knew me, you wouldn’t like me, Ben.”

“Rey, I think you severely underestimate the strength of my feelings for you.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

Rey looks up at him with tears stuck in her eyes. “I think this was a bad idea.”

He looks as if she’s slapped him across the face.

“You think what was a bad idea?” Ben asks, trying to keep his tone level.

“Whatever... _ this  _ is. I told you I don’t do relationships, Ben.”

“And I told you I care about you and you said — you said you didn’t want to stop seeing me.” His voice cracks.

She can tell he’s fighting back tears now, and part of her, a braver part of her, a version of herself she desperately wishes she knew how to be, wants to take back everything she just said and crawl into his arms again and say  _ of course I don’t want to stop seeing you, of course I care about you, too. I care about you so much it scares me to death. _

She’s about to ask him to leave when her phone buzzes. She reaches over and sighs as she picks it up. “It’s the Uber Eats order. I’ll be right back,” she says stiffly without looking at him.

***

She comes back a few minutes later holding a Starbucks bag and drink tray. She sets it all on her nightstand, and then wordlessly retrieves Ben’s bagel and coffee and hands them over to him, avoiding meeting his eyes.

“Like I said before, I just don’t know how to do this,” she says quietly after a long silence, her eyes trained on a spot on the floor.

“Do what?”

“Let someone in. I just...” She takes a deep breath. “I’m scared, Ben.”

“Scared of what, sweetheart?” he says softly.

_ That you’re going to leave and it’s going to break my heart into a million pieces because I think I’m falling in love with you.  _

“I — ” she sighs, dropping her head down. “Nevermind.”

“Can I tell you something, Rey?” Ben asks after a moment.   
  


She takes a sip of her frappuccino without looking at him. “I guess.” 

“Remember when you told me Mr. Snoke is a liar and a dumbass?”

“Yes. Because he is.”

“Well, I don’t know exactly what your grandfather has said or done to you to make you feel like you don’t deserve to be cared about, but he’s a liar, too.”

“You don’t understand,” Rey says quietly. “It’s complicated.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She shakes her head. 

“Okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But if you ever change your mind, I’m here for you, Rey.”

She wants to cry. She doesn’t feel like she deserves such kindness. And every part of her is screaming  _ run, run, run away.  _ But the look on his face from a few minutes ago still haunts her. She used to break boys’ hearts like it was nothing, even just for the fun of it sometimes. She never had any problem ending things if someone caught feelings for her before. But as scared to death as she is of him leaving her, she finds she can’t bear to hurt him. It hurt  _ her  _ to see him so torn up. It’s never been like that with any of the other guys. She’s never felt anything like what she feels for Ben Solo — a boring journalist who drinks black coffee and eats plain bagels, the very last person she ever expected to fall for.

She doesn’t know how to reply, so instead she sets her frappuccino on her nightstand and crawls over to him, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“One second,” he says softly, before setting his coffee and bagel on the other nightstand. He comes back to where she’s sitting and pulls her close to him, kissing her more deeply now that his hands aren’t full anymore. 

“You know,” he murmurs, “I’m very grateful for our Starbucks deliveries, because I think you would’ve dumped me by now if we hadn’t been distracted by getting our coffee.”

“I still would’ve texted you anyway,” Rey says quietly, tracing patterns on his chest without looking up at him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She rests her head against his chest and sighs. “I know I’m kind of a mess, but I like you a lot, Ben Solo.”

“You must be serious, because you called me my actual name,” he replies with a chuckle.

She looks up at him. “I am serious.”

He kisses her again. “I like you a lot, too, Rey Palpatine.” He tucks a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “So does this mean you’ll still want to see me even now that the interview questions are done?” 

“Hmmmm, maybe,” she says with a smirk.

“You’re such a brat,” he mutters.

“Mmm, but you like me a lot anyway, Mr. Silo.”

He shakes his head, running a hand through her hair. “What am I going to do with you, Miss Palpatine?” 

“Oh, I have a few ideas,” she informs him with a grin.

“Is that so?”

“Mm-hmmm,” she says as her hand starts to glide downward toward his pants, but he stops her, gently grabbing her wrist and kissing it.

“I have to go into work soon, we have our meeting about the next issue.”

“Sounds  _ boooooring _ ,” she says, rolling her eyes, a smile playing on her lips.

He chuckles. “Believe me, I’d stay here with you if I could, sweetheart,” he tells her, and then he kisses her forehead.

Rey sighs. “Okay, fine. I do have to get ready for my photoshoot for  _ The Chandrilan _ this afternoon anyway.”

“Oh, is that today?” 

She nods. “Yes! I’m excited.”

“I’m sure you’ll look beautiful. I’m excited to see the photos.”

Rey smiles at him, and then there is a long silence.

“I’ll text you later, then?” Ben asks. 

Rey nods. “Sounds good.” She leans in and kisses him deeply. “I  _ do  _ wish you could stay though,” she murmurs, running her hands along his shoulders. 

“Believe me, so do I, Miss Palpatine,” he murmurs, his voice a low rumble as his lips brush against her ear, making her shiver. “You have no idea what this little fucking pink robe of yours does to me, and I just want to rip it off of you. But I can come back later, if you want. Or tomorrow. Or whenever. Just tell me when, and I’ll be here.”

She kisses him again, and she bites back a smile when she pulls back. “Okay,” she says softly.

She gets off of his lap so he can pick up his blazer and tie and put them on. 

Once he’s fully dressed, he pulls her in by her waist and presses a dizzying kiss to her lips, and now more than ever she wishes he could stay and relieve the growing ache between her thighs.

“I hope you have a good day, Rey,” he says, his voice soft and tender as he brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“You too, Mr. Silo.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “That’s not my name.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Oh, I am  _ well  _ aware,” she tells him with a devilish smirk. 

He shakes his head, still chuckling to himself. “Good-bye, Rey.”

He kisses her forehead one last time.

She hates the way she misses him the moment he closes the door. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. 10

* * *

Rey is wearing nothing but a pink crop top and black lace underwear when she opens the door for Ben. She twirls the ends of her hair and stares up at him with wide eyes, biting down on her lower lip.

She really and truly is going to be the death of him. 

He leans down to kiss her. His hand snakes down to find her ass and squeezes, making her yelp and giggle into his mouth.  _ Adorably _ . Like everything she does. 

“Tell me, sweetheart,” he murmurs against her ear, his voice low and deep, “are you ever going to answer the door wearing real clothes, or do you just delight in tormenting me?”

She smirks, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, I think you know the answer to that question, Mr. Silo.”

“Mmm, so are you going to invite you in, or am I going to have to spank you right here in the doorway?”

She giggles and tugs at his hand. Her hand seems so tiny and delicate compared to his own. It occurs to him how much he would love to just hold her hand.

But Rey’s impatient huff as she folds her arms across her chest snaps the thought out of his mind. 

“I am  _ waiting _ , Mr. Silo.”

“You,” he mutters, “are being very bad, Rey. I thought you wanted me to fuck you.”

She frowns. “I do.”

“Then you need to behave.”

Her lips twist into a petulant pout. “ _ Fine _ . I can try.”

Ben chuckles. “Good girl,” he murmurs. “You’ll still need to be spanked, though.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it, Mr. Silo,” she says with a smirk. 

His lips meet hers and then he murmurs, “Let me take you to your bed first.”

__________

Ben spanks her bent over on his lap, two, three, four times. She revels in the way it stings so deliciously, but she doesn’t goad or tease or ask for more. Suddenly, she’s not in the mood to play these games anymore. She just  _ wants  _ him, needs him close, needs him  _ inside _ . 

When he’s done, he gently rubs his hand on her bottom, soothing the red marks he left there. “You okay, sweetheart?” he murmurs. 

She sits up and kisses him deeply, nodding as she takes his face in her hands. 

“Fuck me, Ben,  _ please _ . Need you to fuck me,” she breathes out when she breaks the kiss, panting for air slightly as she fusses with his tie. “Did you come straight from work again?” she asks as she undoes the knot and starts unbuttoning his shirt.

“Yes,” he admits. “Just wanted to see you.”

Something in her sings at this admission, knowing he wanted to see her so badly he didn’t bother to waste time going home to change. Perhaps because he knew she’d just be taking his clothes off anyway.

“You always complain that I’m not wearing enough clothes, but I think you always have on altogether  _ too much  _ clothing, Benjamin.”

He chuckles as he shrugs off his suit jacket before unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way and sliding that off along with it.

_ Finally,  _ she thinks to herself, he’s at least halfway naked, his broad and beautiful and sculpted chest laid bare before her. She runs her hands slowly up and down his chest, and then across his shoulders and down his arms. His skin is soft and warm beneath her fingertips, and she can feel goosebumps forming there at her touch. When she glances up at him his eyes are closed, like he’s reveling in each gentle caress of her hands against his bare skin.

She unclasps his belt and tugs down his zipper, and she can feel him hard and ready under her touch.

He kicks off his shoes before quickly taking a condom out of his pocket and then pulls down his pants and boxers off the rest of the way, discarding them onto the floor. She draws in a sharp breath at the sight of his cock, red and hard and leaking.

“Ben,” she murmurs breathlessly. 

She lets her fingertips brush against the head of his cock and then smears the bead of precum forming at the tip along his length, drawing a low moan from his lips.

He takes her wrist and pulls her hand off of him, and she frowns. “What is it?”

“Now  _ you’re  _ wearing too many clothes. Want them off of you.”

Rey nods obediently and crosses her arms as she lifts the hem of her shirt, all while holding his gaze. She pulls her shirt up over her head and lets it fall into the pile on the floor. Ben’s lips part slightly as his eyes hungrily scan across her exposed skin, his eyes darkening as he drinks her in.

“Good girl,” he murmurs, his shoulders rising with the effort of his labored breaths as he watches her stand up and pull down her panties, letting them fall to the floor. 

  
She steps back over to him and crawls onto his lap, her lips meeting his in an open-mouthed kiss. “Such a good girl,” he says in a low voice. “Fucking perfect girl.”

He draws her in close again, kissing her with a hungry desperation. 

Rey feels an overwhelming rush of emotions flood over her as her hands knot in his hair while he lifts her up and lays her down beneath him on the bed, all without breaking the kiss. 

She whimpers as she grinds herself against him. “Ben,” she whines as she breaks the kiss. “Need you,  _ please _ . I need — ”

“What do you need, Rey?” he rasps. “Tell me. Tell me what you need.”

“I need you inside of me.”

His lips twist into a wolfish smile as he opens the condom wrapper and puts it on, and then he eases inside of her, giving her what she so desperately needs. She cries out at the force of the overwhelmingly, almost alarmingly intoxicating feeling of his cock inside of her. 

“Does that feel good, sweetheart? You like that?”

She nods furiously. 

He thrusts at a languid pace, back and forth and in and out, his dark eyes full of intense resolve as he holds her gaze. 

“Such a good girl, always taking me so perfectly in this tight little pussy,” he murmurs against her ear. He presses a kiss to her cheek, her jaw, peppers featherlight kisses down her neck. 

“ _ Ben _ ,” she whimpers, and she hates the way it comes out sounding like a desperate plea. She runs her hands up and down his back as he buries his face in the crook of her neck. She wraps her legs around him, desperate for more, desperate to have him deeper, to feel as much of him as possible. 

She moans his name again and against with each push of his hips, each thrust of his cock deep inside of her. She feels her orgasm building low in her belly, but there’s something else building too, something more powerful than just the physical sensation of him fucking her, something she can’t quite put a name to, she just knows it’s almost suffocating her with its intensity as it sits on her chest and washes over in waves, and it only makes her crave him more, more,  _ more _ . 

“Ben, I, I’m— ” she pants, trying to form the words but too far gone to do so.

But Ben understands anyway.

“Are you close, sweetheart?”

She nods. “So clo— ” she shrieks as his thumb finds her clit, hitting it in just the right places. “ _ Ben _ ,” she groans.

“Does that feel good?”

“So good,” she whimpers. “Fuck. You always make me feel so good.”

He holds her gaze as he starts thrusting more quickly and erratically as he also gets closer, and there’s an intensity and reverence in his eyes that scares her, and she instinctively darts her eyes to the ceiling.

But then his voice is in her ear, a low, deep rumble. “No. Look at me, Rey. Look at me when you come.”

She does as she’s told and looks into his eyes. He smiles at her softly, and the tender way he’s looking at her makes her chest flood with warmth. 

“Good girl,” he murmurs.

And it’s that praise that pushes her over the edge, her orgasm swiftly and suddenly crashing over her in a powerful wave that wracks across every inch of her body, leaving her a whimpering, trembling mess beneath him. 

There’s a desperation to the way he croaks out her name as he comes. He collapses on top of her for a brief moment, gasping for air.

He pulls out of her after a moment, but quickly pulls her close to him again, one hand at the small of her back, the other running through her hair. 

“Thank you for texting me,” he says softly. “Missed you.”

“You just saw me yesterday, Benjamin.”

He shrugs. “Still missed you.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she says teasingly, as if she didn’t miss him, too.

“You like me a lot,” he counters.

She chuckles and it gives way to a contented sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

_ I like you so much it scares me,  _ she thinks.  _ I like you so much it’s taking everything in me not to run away as fast as I can.  _

“Ben?”

“Mmm, yeah, sweetheart?”

“This is still weird for me. Admitting I have feelings for someone. Letting them in. It’s overwhelming and I just don’t know how this works. I’m just scared.”

“What are you scared of?”

_ Where to begin? _

She sighs. “It’s just — I’ve spent my whole life feeling so...  _ unwanted _ . My parents abandoned me, none of my foster parents ever wanted me — two facts my grandfather loves to remind me of — and I guess that’s why I leaned so far into the glamorous heiress thing because at least Rey Palpatine the beauty influencer is wanted by tens of thousands of people — albeit in a superficial way, but wanted nonetheless. That’s why I’m so scared of losing it, because I feel like that’s all I have. But I don’t know, having fans and my so-called friends who only like me for my status...it’s not the same as being cared about. And I’ve said this before — people like the  _ idea  _ of me, but not the real me. No one’s ever wanted the real me.”

“I want you, Rey. The real you. But I know what that’s like,” Ben says quietly. “Feeling unwanted.”

Rey looks up at him, brows pushed together in concern. “What do you mean?”

He takes a deep breath. “I felt like my parents didn’t want me for most of my life. They weren’t around a lot and always seemed too busy for me. When I started struggling in school and dealing with depression and anxiety, instead of helping me they just sent me away to boarding school, thinking that would somehow make it better. But I just felt like they didn’t want me, like they didn’t want to deal with me. And Mr. Snoke just fed off of that weakness. He just reiterated what I already believed — that my parents didn’t want me, that no one wanted me, that I’m too much, that I’m just fundamentally unlovable. That I will always be alone.” He sighs. “I’m sorry. That was a lot.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s okay,” Rey says softly, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I’m so sorry you went through all that. But you’re not alone, Ben.”

“Neither are you, Rey. I hope you know you didn’t deserve what your parents or your foster parents did to you — or your grandfather.”

“And you don’t deserve what your parents or Mr. Snoke did to you, for that matter.”

He kisses her forehead. “Thank you for saying that, sweetheart. Things are better with my parents these days, but it’s not perfect. I love my parents and I’ve forgiven them now because they know what they did was wrong and have been trying to make up for it by being in my life now, but it’s hard to undo all those years of hurt, you know?”

Rey nods. “I get it,” she says softly. She leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to his lips. “I meant it though when I said you’re not alone, Ben.”

“And I meant it when I said you’re not alone, either, Rey.” There’s an intensity in his gaze that makes her believe him. “And I can understand why you might feel that way sometimes, with your grandfather and your fake friends and all that. But I like you for exactly who you are. And I want to be here for you. If you’ll let me.”

“I want to let you. I’m trying. But it’s hard. There’s such a huge part of me that’s so overwhelmed and scared I just want to run away.”

“I know. I get it. But you’re doing so well, you’re being so brave opening up to me and it means a lot that you trust me enough to tell me these things.”

She smiles and kisses him again.

A nervous expression crosses Ben’s face. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

He takes a deep breath and brushes a strand of hair out of her face. “I know you’re going to the art gallery with your friend from the summer camp but I was wondering if you also might want to go with me sometime. It’s, um, it’s a big art gallery so there’s lots of exhibits and things to see, you definitely won’t be able to hit it all in one day.”

Rey grins. “Benjamin Solo, are you asking me out on a  _ date _ ?”

He blushes. “I — yes, I am. If you want to. There’s no pressure—”

“Ben,” Rey says firmly. “Of course I’ll go to the art gallery with you. I would love to go to the art gallery with you.”

“Really?”

She nods. “Yes. Of course.” She leans in and kisses him deeply. When she pulls away, she yawns.

Ben smiles at her like she’s the most precious thing in the whole world. “Are you sleepy?”

She nods and then settles her head against his chest again. “You wore me out, Mr. Silo.”

He chuckles. “Not my name.”

She sighs contentedly and snuggles closer to him, smiling. “Oh, I know.” 

  
  
  
  



	11. 11

* * *

Ben arrives at Rey’s mansion at 5:25, nervously clutching the bouquet of paper flowers he made for her.

He actually went home to change after work for once, so he’s dressed more casually, in a crisp white button down tucked into a pair of dark wash jeans.

He rings the doorbell and finds his hands are shaking a little bit.

When she opens the door she looks as beautiful as ever, in a black blouse with a delicate floral print and slightly relaxed high waisted light wash jeans. Her stiletto heels have been replaced by ballet flats, and her hair is loosely tied back at her neck with a pink silk scarf, with a few wispy loose strands framing her face.

Her face lights up into a smile when she sees him and _oh_ he could just melt when she looks at him like that. 

“Hi,” he manages nervously.

“Hello, Benjamin,” she replies with a grin. She tilts her head slightly. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

He forgot he was wearing them. He nervously adjusts the tortoiseshell frames. “Oh, yeah, um, I usually wear contacts but my eyes felt kind of sore after work today so I took them out. I don’t usually like to wear my glasses, the lenses are a little thick because I have a high prescription and I don’t feel like they look goo — ”

“I love them.”

He blushes. “Oh. I — thank you. Anyway, um, I, um, I made these for you.” He holds out the bouquet of paper flowers. “I was going to get real flowers but flowers die and I wanted to give you something that lasts. Also, they’re pink because I figured that was your favorite color, since most of the things you own are pink. And I, um, I wanted to try to do something artistic since you're an artist and all and— ” He scratches the back of his neck nervously with his free hand. 

She _beams_ at him. “They’re perfect.” 

“So you like them?”

“I love them,” she says as she takes the bouquet from them and delicately places them in the straw purse on her shoulder. He’s surprised she’s not carrying one of the many designer purses she surely owns. She pulls her phone out of the bag. “Can you take a picture of me so I can make an outfit of the day post?” she asks, handing him her phone.

He chuckles. “Sure.” She poses primly and he snaps a photo and then hands her phone back to her. “Is it okay?”

“Mmmmm it’s not my best angle, but it’s fine. I can crop my face out, the important part is the outfit, anyway.”

Why she would ever want to crop her face out when she looks so beautiful is beyond him, but he doesn’t press the issue.

She takes a moment to upload the photo and then she puts her phone in her back pocket. 

  
  


When she looks up at him again, she frowns.

“What is it?” he asks.

“You haven’t kissed me yet, Benjamin.”

He lets out a small chuckle, a smile playing on his lips. “You’re right, I haven’t.” He closes the gap between them and presses his lips to hers. He can feel her smiling into the kiss.

“Much better, thank you,” she says cheerfully when she pulls away. He’s quite convinced she’s the most adorable person alive. “Anyway, are you ready to go?”

He nods, swallowing nervously. She closes the door and locks it behind her and then falls into step beside him as they walk to his car.

She turns and looks up at him, grinning. “Aren’t you pleased that I’m finally wearing actual clothes, Mr. Silo?”

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “You are ridiculous, Miss Palpatine,” he mutters. 

“You like me a lot,” she counters with a smirk and raised eyebrows.

He sighs. “That I do, sweetheart. That I do.”

When they reach his car, he opens the passenger side door for her. 

“Why thank you, Mr. Silo.”

“You’re welcome. And that’s not my name.”

Her lips twist into a devilish smile. “Oh, I am well aware of that.”  
  


He smiles and shakes his head again as she closes the door and he walks over to the driver’s side. When he sits down and turns the key, classical music starts playing, and he waits for her to make fun of him for that.

But instead, she says, “Oooo, you like Tchaikovsky?” 

There’s a slightly bewildered look on his face. “ _You_ like Tchaikovsky?”

“Mmm, always the tone of surprise.”

“I just assumed you would think classical music is boring.”

“Anyone who says that has never properly listened to classical music, like literally all of Beethoven’s symphonies are absolute _bangers_ ; I’m partial to the third, the ninth, and the seventh, and I mean, literally the opening of Beethoven’s fifth alone is the complete _opposite_ of boring.” 

Whenever he thinks he can’t possibly fall any harder for her, she always proves him wrong.

“I couldn’t agree more. You know...” he starts to say, stealing a glance at her, “we should go to see the Chandrila Philharmonic sometime. I mean, if you want.”

“Oh, I would love that!” Rey exclaims. “I always wanted to go, but my grandfather...” she trails off and then shakes her head. “Nevermind. Anyway, I’d love to go to see the Philharmonic with you, Ben.”

He wants to ask what her grandfather has to do with her going to the symphony, but given how she usually reacts to the subject of her grandfather, he decides not to press the issue. 

She starts humming along to the waltz from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” as she rests her head against the window. His eyes scan over her for a brief moment; he’s utterly enchanted by her. He looks forward at the road again, but tentatively reaches over and places his hand on top of where her hand rests on her lap, and she turns and smiles at him as she laces their fingers together. He feels a flood of warmth in his chest and electricity blossoming where their hands are clasped, and he briefly forgets how to breathe.

***

When they arrive at the art gallery, Rey pulls out her credit card to pay for the tickets.

“You drove, so I can pay for admission,” she tells him cheerfully.

He smiles. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You’re welcome, Benjamin.”

“Where do you want to start?” he asks after the front desk attendant hands Rey her card back.

“Hmmm,” Rey muses as she looks through a brochure she picked up. “There’s a sculptural installation, there’s a photography exhibit, a modern art collection and _oooo_ the paintings are on the third floor, let’s go there first!” she exclaims, grabbing his hand and tugging him along to the elevator.

The doors slide open and Rey presses the button for the third floor, and as soon as the door closes, Ben pulls her in by her waist and kisses her deeply, taking her by surprise. She makes an adorable shocked little squeak and her eyes widen for a brief moment but then she knots her hands in his hair and kisses him back just as fervently.

The elevator dings to signal their arrival on the third floor, and Ben breaks the kiss and laces their hands together again.

Rey’s brisk walk is practically a run as she makes her way over to the paintings, her eyes wide with wonder.

“Wow, all these paintings are from local artists, there’s so much talent in Chandrila.”

“I bet if you painted something, they would display it here.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she says quietly. But then her face lights up again when she sees a painting she particularly likes, and she tugs Ben along towards it.

He loves watching her talk about art. Well, he loves watching her talk about _anything,_ but the way her face lights up when she talks about art, the way she has to pull her hand away from his because she is gesticulating so animatedly, the way her hazel eyes glisten — it’s the single most charming thing he’s ever witnessed. 

And she knows so _much_ about art; her Ivy league education is obvious. He can barely keep up with what she’s saying, but he knows it’s all brilliant, even if he doesn’t always fully understand what she’s talking about. He just watches her, mesmerized as he nods along to what she’s saying, letting her tug him along to painting after painting, exhibit after exhibit. She looks like a kid on Christmas morning with every new piece of art she discovers.

There is one painting in particular that really seems to move her; she doesn’t say as much about this one, just gazes at it with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. 

“So beautiful,” she murmurs.

“Mmm, I agree.” Ben’s eyes are fixed on her. He is not talking about the painting.

She leans over and rests her head against his arm as she continues to stare at the painting, lacing their hands together again.

“Thank you for taking me here,” she says softly. “I’m so happy.”

He squeezes her hand and kisses the top of her head.

“Of course. We can come here whenever you want, Rey.”

She looks up at him, beaming. “Really?” 

He chuckles. “Of course, sweetheart.”

She pushes herself up on her tiptoes and kisses him. 

“Anyways, I’m starving, do you want to get something to eat?” she asks.

“Sure. We can go out somewhere, or pick-up takeout, or I could cook something for you.”

“Oohhh, you can cook? I can barely make pasta.”

He nods. “I’m a halfway decent cook. Do you like steak? I just bought some.”

She smiles. “That sounds perfect.”

***

“It’s no Palpatine mansion, but it’s home,” Ben mumbles as he opens the door to his apartment. 

She takes in what she can see of his apartment from the doorway— framed black and white photos on the walls, a black suede couch with a gray throw blanket, and she can see a bit of the kitchen, which is more black with bits of stainless steel. There’s a bookcase with a record player on the top shelf, and the case for a Beethoven record propped up beside it.

“It’s a very nice place,” she assures him, resisting the urge to tease him for the boring, colorless interior design scheme. 

He entwines his hand with hers and leads her to the couch. “Feel free to take a seat. Can I get you anything to drink? A glass of wine, maybe?”

“You’re a much better host than I was the first time you came over to my house.” She frowns. “I was rude to you.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” she says quietly. 

He kisses her forehead. “Don’t worry about it.”

She sighs and sits down on the couch. “Okay. Wine sounds wonderful, by the way.”

“Is Merlot okay?”

“Yeah, that sounds amazing.” She smiles at him.

***

“You can put on anything you want on the TV, by the way, I have all the streaming services,” he tells her when he comes back with her wine. He hopes he doesn’t notice how his hand shakes slightly. But she just smiles that million watt smile of hers and makes him forget how to breathe again. 

“Oooh, okay. And thank you for the wine.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he says softly. 

Ben returns to the kitchen and she turns on the TV, flicking through the streaming sites until she finds something she wants to watch.

“What are you watching?” Ben calls out from the kitchen.

“ _Breakfast at Tiffany’s,_ ” she calls back. “It’s my favorite movie.”

He smiles. “Oh, that makes sense. How do you feel about asparagus and mashed potatoes on the side, by the way?”

“Sounds great. I’m not picky at all,” she assures him. “Thank you again for cooking for me. No one’s um...no one’s ever done that for me before,” she adds quietly. 

He turns to look at her. She’s swung her ponytail over her shoulder and is nervously playing with the ends of her hair. She’s the loveliest thing he’s ever seen, and he wonders how he got so lucky that she let him take her to his apartment, that’s she’s letting him cook for her. And there’s a soft vulnerability in her wide hazel eyes as she gazes over at him. He is overcome with a strong urge to hold her.

But he’s cooking for her right now, something no one’s ever done for her, apparently. Something she deserves. She deserves all the good things in this world, he thinks.

***

“Oh this is _delicious,”_ Rey tells him when they sit down to eat dinner.

“I’m glad you like it. I was nervous.”

“Did you put garlic in the mashed potatoes?”

He nods.

“It’s great. And the steak is cooked perfectly. I wish I knew how to cook steak.”

“I could show you sometime. I mean, if you want.”

Rey smiles. “I’d _love_ that.”

There’s a tense silence as they eat more of their food.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Rey,” Ben says finally. He feels her brush her foot against his leg under the table and he draws in a sharp breath. 

“Me, too.” She bites back a smile. “Your place is really nice. I mean, I _do_ think every space could benefit from a splash of pink — but even so, it’s still nice. It’s cozy. I like it.”

“Do you like it enough to come over more often?” he asks nervously.

“Of course, Ben.”

He sets his hand on top of where hers is resting on the table, tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. 

She looks up at him with a bashful smile on her lips. 

***

“Even your _plates_ are boring,” Rey teases as she dries off the plate he handed her. “Who has black and gray plates?”

“They’re practical,” he offers. “And I don’t have to worry about the colors clashing.”

“If by practical you mean _boooooring_ ,” she says playfully. “I’m going to bring over some pink plates. You need more pink in your life, Mr. Silo.”

He chuckles. “Is that so?”

She nods. “Yes, it is.” She suppresses a chuckle as the steam from the hot water the dishes are soaking in starts to fog up his glasses.

“This is why I don’t like wearing my glasses,” he mumbles, his face turning red.

“No, no, it’s cute. You’re cute.” She pushes herself up on her tiptoes and kisses him, which only makes his glasses fog up more. When she breaks the kiss, she takes in the sight of his completely fogged-up lenses and giggles. He quickly takes his glasses off and wipes them off on his shirt.

“Can’t see your pretty face when my glasses are all fogged up,” he mutters. When he puts his glasses back on he can see that she’s blushing, and he pulls her back in to kiss her more deeply. She moans into his mouth as his tongue glides through her parted lips, and suddenly finishing the dishes is the very last thing on his mind. He wants her. _Needs_ her. All of her. In his bed.

He scoops her up into his arms, lifting her off the ground without a second thought. Rey makes a surprised sort of squeak and throws her arms around his neck. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to my bed.”

“ _Oh_ ,” is her breathless reply. 

***

When he fucks her, it is slow and tender.

He makes her come with his mouth and his tongue and then with his fingers and finally with his cock. He whispers things in her ears, his breath hot on her neck, about what a good girl she is, how well she takes him, how tight she is, how perfect she feels, how he loves being inside of her.

And just as before, he makes her look at him when she comes and she does as she’s told, her gaze fixed on his darkened but overwhelmingly tender and adoring eyes as her third orgasm of the night crashes over her, setting every nerve alight, leaving her a shuddering mess beneath him as she gasps for air and clings to his back, digging her nails into his skin as waves of intense pleasure wash over her body.

“So pretty when you come for me,” he murmurs, his lips brushing against her jaw.

All she can do in reply is whimper.

He pulls out of her and then pulls her close against his chest, kissing the top of her head and running his fingers through her hair.

She didn’t know it was possible to be half in love with someone so quickly.

The sheer intensity of her feelings _terrifies_ her because she knows she will lose him eventually — people always leave her. And surely the more he gets to know her, the less he will like her. 

When she blinks, tears fall out of her eyes. 

Ben must have felt them because he murmurs, “Sweetheart? Why are you crying? What’s wrong?”

She sniffles. “Nothing.”

“Rey.”

“I should go.”

He wraps his arms more tightly around her. “Tell me what’s wrong. I'm here for you. Let me be here for you, Rey. Let me care about you.”

She lets out a sigh. “I — I’m embarrassed,” she admits.

“What are you embarrassed about?”

“That I’m crying...again.”

“It’s okay. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” he murmurs, running his hand through her hair with one hand and rubbing soothing circles on her back with the other.

It is quiet for a long while, until Rey breaks the silence.

“You’re going to leave me.”

“Rey,” he says softly. “Do you know why I gave you those paper flowers?

“What do the paper flowers have to do with anything?” Her words come out sharper than she means them to. 

“I wanted to give you something that lasts, Rey, not something fleeting and temporary that dies. Because the way I feel for you is anything but fleeting and temporary, and I wanted to give you something that represents that.”

She sniffles. “Oh.” There’s another long silence. “It’s just—I’ve never felt like this towards anyone, I’ve never felt so strongly about someone so quickly and it scares me, Ben, the strength of these feelings—”

“Don’t be afraid, I feel it too,” he murmurs. 

“I’m still embarrassed. I’m surprised I haven’t scared you away yet with my, uh...emotional outbursts.”

“You don’t have to apologize for having feelings, Rey. I understand why you’re overwhelmed. You’ve been through a lot. But you’re so strong. I think you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

“I—” She sits up a little so she can look at him. “I really feel like I'm the opposite of strong, but thank you for saying that.” She sighs. “You’re being, like, insanely patient with me, more so than I would ever expect anyone to be and I just want you to know how much I appreciate that. I just feel like I'm...so much to deal with. Like I’m just... _too much._ ”

He brushes her cheek with the back of his hand. “It's very easy to care about you, Rey. You’re not too much. I think you’re wonderful and I like you a lot.”

She smiles at him. “I like you a lot, too,” she says softly.

“Glad we’re on the same page,” he murmurs, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. She sighs contentedly into the kiss. “Can’t believe you’re here, in my bed.”

She rests her head against his chest again and nuzzles against him with a yawn. He wraps his arms around her tightly. 

“‘Course I’m here,” she mumbles sleepily. “Even if you have boring gray sheets. That tells you how much I like you. That I’m willing to look past the boring gray sheets.”

He shakes his head. “You’re such a brat.”

She smiles against his chest. “Mmmmm, but you like me anyway, Mr. Silo.”

“I do,” he says softly, running a hand through her hair. 

She sighs contentedly. “G’night, Benjamin.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”


	12. 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for emotional abuse in this update in the texts between Rey and Palpatine
> 
> Also, credit to my amazing friend [ Lena](http://twitter.com/bensoloswhore) for making these amazing magazine pages! She is available for commissions and you should definitely consider commissioning her if you need a moodboard, magazine article, or other graphic for your fic!

Ben is still sleeping soundly and snoring slightly when Rey’s eyes flutter open. She smiles at him, reaching over to stroke his cheek and kiss his forehead.

She decides she’ll check her phone while she waits for him to wake up, so she fishes her jeans off the floor and takes her phone out of the pocket and sees she has a text from her grandfather, the very last person she wants to hear from right now.

She sits on the edge of the bed and unlocks her phone.

Tears are streaming down her cheeks now. How could she have been so _stupid_? She realizes that these past couple of weeks with Ben, she’s been living in a fantasy world, hoping for things that just aren’t possible for her.

She feels his hand on her arm.

“Rey? What’s wrong?”

“I have to go,” she says quietly. She sniffles. 

“Please don’t go, Rey.” His voice cracks. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been—so stupid—”

“Rey, what are you talking about?”

She stands up and starts getting dressed.

“Please don’t do this, Rey, please talk to me.”

She keeps herself faced away from him because she knows it will just break her heart even more if she sees the hurt that’s surely written all over his beautiful face.

“I’m so sorry,” she chokes out as she picks up her bag. 

But then she sees the flowers, and remembers the promise they represent. She thinks about how long he must have spent making them for her. The way they are so delicately and beautifully constructed, the amount of care that had to have gone into making them.

The flowers are a real, tangible thing, living proof that maybe she _does_ deserve good things, maybe she _is_ worthy of love, and maybe her aspirations _aren’t_ silly.

She sinks to the floor and buries her face in her hands, sobbing violently.

Ben sits down beside her and gently rubs her back. She turns and wraps her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay, I’m here, sweetheart. It’s okay,” he murmurs, arms wrapped around her as he continues to rub soothing circles on her back.

She doesn’t know how much time has passed when her tears start to subside and her breathing returns to normal. “It’s my grandfather,” she finally manages to whisper.

She feels him tense up at the mention of her grandfather.

“No offense, Rey, but I kind of really fucking hate your grandpa.”

“I — I always thought he was just looking out for me, I always thought he did the things he did because he cared about me, but — he’s never done anything like make paper flowers for me. No one’s ever done anything like that for me, before you. And I’m starting to realize what it really means to have someone care about me — thanks to you,” she adds, glancing up at him.

“I _do_ care about you, Rey,” he says fiercely. “And I don’t know what he said to hurt you like this, but—” His fists clench and his chest rises and falls with rapid breaths, so full of anger that he can’t finish the sentence. He closes his eyes and slowly lets out a breath, trying to calm himself. “What can I do to help you? How can we make sure you’re safe from him?”

“I—” Her eyes shoot downward. “It’s...complicated.”

She _wants_ to believe the things her grandfather tells her are lies, and on a logical level she knows they are, but after seven years of emotional manipulation, it’s hard to shake the way he’s gotten into her head and made her doubt herself and her worth, made her believe she’s nothing without the fortune he’s given her. And she knows Ben likes her for her, but some part of her still believes no one would care about her if she wasn’t Rey Palpatine the glamorous heiress. 

And there’s also just the practical fact that her grandfather has access to all her accounts, so even the money she makes from her sponsored posts isn’t really hers; he could take it all in an instant, he could kick her out onto the streets and leave her with nothing.

Ben doesn’t say anything, just pulls her close again, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head.

“I wish there was some way I could help you.”

“This is just something I’ll have to figure out on my own,” she says quietly. “But you being here for me means everything.” She sits up and kisses his lips. “I’ll figure it out,” she tells him, even though she hasn’t the _slightest_ idea how to even begin to figure this out. But she doesn’t want him to worry about her. 

“You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met, Rey,” he says resolutely. “And I’m here for you no matter what.”

She takes his face in her hands and kisses him again, slowly, deeply, _tenderly_ , trying to convey a fraction of what she feels for him. 

If last night she was half in love with him, then now she’s three quarters in love with him.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Ben's Google search history:

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The next morning, the new issue of The Chandrilan is released. {Magazine cover and magazine page formatting by the amazing [Lena](https://twitter.com/bensoloswhore)!}

* * *

* * *

* * *

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* * *

Ben’s voice is full of concern when he answers the phone. “Rey? What’s wrong? What do you need?”

She only manages a strangled sob in reply.

“I — I — ” she can barely get the words out without hyperventilating.

“Hey, hey. You’re okay. I’m here for you, whatever happened. Can you try and take a deep breath for me, sweetheart?”

She draws in a few shaky, hiccup-y breaths, her breathing getting a tiny bit slower with each exhale.

“There you go,” he murmurs, his voice warm and gentle and soothing. “You’re doing so well. Can you try and take some more deep breaths for me?”

She hiccups again. “Ye — yeah — ”

He waits a moment to hear her breathing steady a little more, and then: “Do you need me to come over?”

“I mean, I don’t want to inconvenience you or anything, if it’s too much trouble — ”

“Rey. Do you need me to come over?”

She sniffs and hiccups again. “Yes,” she says quietly.

  
“I’m on my way.”


	13. 13

Rey is still crying when she opens the door for Ben. She wordlessly throws her arms around him and buries her face against his chest. He wraps his arms around her tightly as he rubs his hands up and down her back and she feels herself starting to relax a little.

After a moment she lifts her head up and pushes herself up on her tiptoes so she can kiss him. 

She sniffles and he wipes her tears away. “Thank you for coming over.”

“Of course,” Ben murmurs. His eyes search her face. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I— ” she draws in a shaky breath. “No. My grandfather — ”

Ben’s stiffens, his jaw working and his hands balling into fists. “What did he do, Rey?” he asks tightly.

“He — ” Rey draws in another shaky breath, her eyes darting to the floor as she nervously fidgets with her hands. “He disowned me. Told me I was nothing. Told me I never deserved to be loved, anyway. Drained all the money out of my accounts. And told me I need to be out of this house by the time he gets here. He’s at his penthouse downtown, I believe, so I don’t have a lot of time.”

“Oh, the bastard is coming here? Because there are  _ several  _ things I’d like to say to him — ”

“Ben, please,” Rey insists. “I don’t want to see him. I just want to get out of here.”

“I just —” He sighs. “Surely you must have some type of legal rights here? My mom is an attorney—”

“I mean, I gave him access to my accounts — albeit I was manipulated into doing so, but still. And I didn’t pay rent or anything. So I think he’s within his rights to do this.”

“I just feel like I can’t just stand by and let him do this to you, Rey.” 

“Ben, please. I told him I’d rather be on the streets than be his puppet any longer, and I meant that. I really just want to get out of here as quickly as possible and leave all this behind. And I was wondering — and I feel terrible for asking, but I don’t really have any other place to go — so I was wondering if maybe, possibly, there is any chance I can stay with you? Just until I find a new place.”

“Rey,” he says firmly, cupping her chin in his hand. “Of course you can stay with me, sweetheart. For as long as you need to.”

“Thank you, Ben,” she says quietly. “I won’t be in your hair for too long, I threw a bunch of my designer purses and shoes and jewelry into a suitcase to sell, and hopefully I can scrape together enough for rent so I can get an apartment.”

He frowns. “You shouldn’t have to sell your things, Rey. I hate that he’s putting you in this position.”

“They’re just things, Ben. I don’t need them. And I feel like they represent a person I don’t even want to be anymore. But anyway, we don’t have a lot of time. Can you help me pack up the rest of my stuff? I mean, I’m obviously not going to be able to get all of it, just the essentials — and some pink plates, those are definitely essentials,” she adds with a grin.

Ben chuckles, shaking his head. “Can’t forget the pink plates now, can we? And of course I’ll help you, Rey.”

She kisses him again. “Thank you, Ben,” she says softly.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

***

Fifteen minutes later, Rey has her things packed up in several pink suitcases, and Ben helps her carry them out to his car. 

“Are my pillows not comfortable enough for you?” Ben asks on their final trip to his car, gesturing with his head in the direction of the pink pillow that’s balanced on top of the suitcase she’s rolling.

“You can  _ hardly _ expect me to rest my head on boring gray pillow cases, Mr. Silo,” she informs him teasingly. 

He shakes his head, chucking to himself. “You are ridiculous, Miss Palpatine.”

She just smirks primly, but her smile falls as soon as she steps out of the door and sees him.

“I thought I told you to be gone by the time I got here.”

Ben appears next to her, and then steps between Rey and her grandfather. 

“She was just leaving,” he says coolly. 

“And who, pray tell, are  _ you _ ?” Sheev demands, appearing offended. 

“I’m Ben, I’m Rey’s... um, well—”

“...Boyfriend?” Rey supplies nervously, glancing at Ben for confirmation. She sees his lips start to twitch into a smile for the briefest moment before returning to his serious expression when he turns back to face Sheev again. 

“Yes, I’m Rey’s boyfriend.”

She can see the way Ben is  _ seething _ with anger when he looks back at her grandfather, his shoulders rising and falling with his rapid breaths, his hand tightening around the suitcase.

“And we were just leaving, like he said,” Rey chimes in.

“You’ll come to regret the choices you made that brought you into this position you’re in now, Rey,” Sheevs says sharply.

That’s when Ben starts to lose it, tilting his head in annoyance and disbelief as he takes another step toward the old man.

“The decisions  _ she _ made?! Are you fucking  _ kidding _ me? You’re the one who is kicking her out with barely any notice, you’re the one who has been twisting her mind, you’re the one who has been controlling her and manipulating her and lying to her, you’re the one—”

“ _ Ben _ ,” Rey says firmly. “Please, it’s not worth it. Let’s just get out of here.  _ Please _ .”

Ben nods, but he’s still glaring at her grandfather with a contemptuous expression.

Sheev finally steps to the side and let’s them pass by, but not before whispering to Rey, “He’ll only leave you in the end, just like your parents did. Just like I’m leaving you. And you know it, too, don’t you, you’ve always known it? You don’t deserve—”

Ben must’ve heard Sheev whispering because he turns back around immediately. “Don’t say another fucking  _ word _ to her—”

“I  _ beg  _ your pardon—”

Ben takes a step closer to him, and now he’s towering over the frail old man. “I said, don’t say another fucking word to her.”

Rey has never seen her grandfather look intimidated by  _ anyone _ , and maybe it’s Ben’s tone or maybe it’s just his sheer size, but something makes her grandfather dart his eyes to the ground and step out of their way without saying another word.

Rey feels like they can’t get away from her grandfather fast enough. They make their way to Ben’s car and place Rey’s suitcases in the back seat. Ben opens the passenger side door for Rey and then quickly makes his way over to the driver’s side and turns the key to start the ignition.

He immediately turns to Rey, reaching over and gently resting his hand on top of hers. “Are you alright, sweetheart?” 

She nods. “I’m okay.”

“What did he say to you?”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before,” she says quietly.

Ben’s brows push together in concern, his warm amber eyes turning sorrowful. 

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, I just want to get out of here,” Rey adds. She glances over at him and squeezes his hand. He gives her a sympathetic smile as he squeezes back before gently pulling his hand back so he can drive out of the driveway. 

Rey takes one last look at the place that has been her home for the past several years, and surprisingly she doesn’t feel any pangs of sadness now that she’s leaving it behind.

All she can feel in this moment is  _ relief _ that she’s finally away from her grandfather once and for all. In a way, the house represents everything she hated about her old life, and perhaps that is why she doesn’t feel any remorse in leaving it behind and is, in fact, all too eager to get away from it. 

***

Once they’ve brought in her suitcases, Rey collapses onto the couch.

“This was the most emotionally exhausting day of my life,” she mutters. Ben sits down beside her and she snuggles up against him as they wrap their arms around each other. “Thank you for all your help,” Rey adds. She sits up and presses a kiss to his lips.

He gently strokes her cheek with the back of his hand. “Of course. I’m more than happy to help in any way I can. Have you had breakfast yet, by the way? I could make you some more chocolate chip waffles, if you want.”

She smiles and kisses him again. “That sounds perfect.” 

  
  


***

After their chocolate chip waffle breakfast—during which Rey successfully gets Ben to eat a chocolate chip waffle off a pink plate—Rey puts on  _ Breakfast at Tiffany’s  _ again. She lets Ben wrap his arm around her while she rests her head on his chest.

“How are you doing?” he asks at some point during the movie.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “I’m just happy to be here with you. Everything’s very overwhelming and I’m just trying to take it one step at a time.”

“That’s completely understandable,” he says reassuringly. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re handling things very well under the circumstances. You’re so strong, Rey.”

In response to that, she kisses him. “Thank you, Ben.” She absentmindedly fiddles with the collar on his shirt. “I meant it when I said I’m not going to be in your hair long, too. I want to figure this out on my own. Like, I’ll get a job at Starbucks and move in with roommates if I have to. I just want to make a new life for myself. And I still don’t know exactly what that will look like, but now that my grandfather isn’t controlling me, I can actually think about what  _ I  _ want for the first time in my adult life, and that’s the most liberating feeling in the world.”

She’s smiling slightly as she says this, her whole body relaxing as if the realization that she’s finally  _ free  _ is fully sinking in for the first time. 

“I’m sure,” Ben murmurs, nodding. “Well, no matter what you decide to do, I’ll support you.”

A soft smile peeks across her lips. “You’re a very good boyfriend, Mr. Silo.”

He shakes his head. “I can’t believe my own girlfriend doesn’t know my name.”

Rey giggles and leans in to kiss him.

  
  


***

Later that night, Rey is sated and sleepy in Ben’s arms as he holds her close. He never would’ve imagined he would ever have her in his bed a week ago, and now he memorizes the feeling of her soft, warm skin against his own, the floral-sweet scent of her shampoo and perfume, the softness of her hair, the pattern of her breathing—he commits every detail about her to his memory for safe keeping in case she ever decides to leave him. 

She turns to face him, her fingertips delicately grazing his cheek. “Thank you again for letting me stay with you.”

“Believe me, Rey, it’s no problem, I’m more than happy to have you here.”  _ I’d keep you forever if I could _ , he thinks to himself. “You know, a week ago I never, ever would’ve imagined that you’d be in my bed. I certainly never would’ve imagined you’d be my  _ girlfriend.  _ Not that I’m complaining,” he adds, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

“Mmm, yeah, it’s funny how life works, isn’t it? I never would’ve imagined this either. But I’m certainly not complaining,” she murmurs. “ _ Although _ , I could do without the boring gray sheets,” she adds with a devilish smirk.

Ben rolls his eyes. “You are ridiculous, Miss Palpatine.”

Rey grins smugly. “So you keep mentioning, Mr. Silo. But I’m afraid you’re stuck with my ridiculousness now, seeing as I’m your girlfriend and all.”

He chuckles. “Well, I like you a lot, ridiculousness and all.”

She sighs contentedly, resting her head against his chest. “I like you a lot too, Mr. Silo,” she says softly.

He kisses the top of her head and holds her tightly.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Mmmm, goodnight, Benjamin,” she mumbles sleepily. 

* * *

_The next day, Rey finally texts her “friends” back._   
  
  


* * *

* * *

* * *

_Ben updates the Ticos_

__

__

* * *

Rey learns things about Ben during the time she stays with him.

She learns he is a liar, because he insists he doesn’t like Taylor Swift, but he knows almost every word to “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.”

She learns he is very good at making all kinds of breakfast foods, not just chocolate chip waffles — his chocolate chip pancakes are just as good, as are his eggs and bacon. 

She learns he is a good teacher, and is very patient with her multiple failed attempts to make the chocolate chip waffles she begged him to teach her how to make.

She learns that while he’s come to appreciate chocolate chip waffles, his favorite breakfast is always  _ her.  _

She learns he is annoyed by her tendency to leave her coffee mugs scattered about the apartment. She learns that when he mutters, “it’s fine, sweetheart” that it’s actually  _ not  _ fine. 

She learns that he still has nightmares sometimes. He is embarrassed the first time he wakes her up with his crying and screaming, but she kisses his tears away and holds him close and tells him that he’s safe and she’s here and he’s not alone. 

She wonders what she did to deserve homemade chocolate chip waffle breakfasts every morning and multiple orgasms every night, and part of her is waiting for the other shoe to drop because good things like this just don’t happen for her. 

Ben learns things about Rey, too — he learns that she has a beautiful voice when he hears her absentmindedly start singing “Moon River” from  _ Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  _ She sings often: when she’s in the shower, when she’s helping him make chocolate chip waffles, when she’s getting ready to go to job interviews.

He learns that she is a little messy, but he knows as soon as she moves into her own apartment he will miss the half empty coffee mugs that she seems to leave everywhere but the sink.

He learns that she can and absolutely will find just about anything she can do to annoy him on purpose, because she likes getting spanked a little too much. (Some things never change.)

He learns that eating her out is  _ definitely  _ his new favorite hobby.

He learns that she is a good listener when he tells her how sometimes in his nightmares he’s a little kid again hearing his parents screaming in the next room. How sometimes it’s like he still hears Mr. Snoke’s voice in his head. She listens, and she understands. 

She tells him more about her childhood — about how cruel some of her foster parents could be, about how hearing screaming in the next room is something she’s all-too-familiar with. She tells him more about the things her grandfather would say to her, and it breaks his heart a little more every time he learns all the lies he fed her. So he tries his best to remind her how amazing and strong and wonderful she is at every possible opportunity. He hopes his words can help to drown out the barrage of lies and hateful words that swirl around in her brain. 

He tells her how much therapy helped him process his traumas. She says she is open to tying it, and she makes an appointment. He tells her how brave and strong she is, and that he is proud of her. 

He learns his once gray and lonely and empty apartment is full of life when she is there, with her pink pillow and her pink plates and her soft singing and her impassioned rants about art and her million watt smile.

He will miss the pink pillow when it is gone. 

She carries the paper flowers he made her to all of her job interviews, insisting they are her good luck charm. So he makes her more paper flowers, which she tells him she will use to decorate her new apartment when she finds one.

He learns that whenever he thinks he can’t possibly fall harder for her, she always proves him wrong. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

A few days later, this is what you see if you try to navigate to the official Rey Palpatine (TM) social media pages.

* * *

* * *

* * *

When Ben comes home, Rey is standing just inside the doorway clutching a tiny gray kitten. Ben doesn’t know which is cuter: the pleading look on Rey’s face or the precious ball of fluff she’s holding.

He knows what Rey is about to ask, and if it were anyone else, he would probably say no. But if this kitten is going to bring her happiness, how could he possibly take that away from her?

“Hi, so, um I came across this little angel near the bus stop and she doesn’t have a collar or tag or anything and she seems really dirty so I think she’s a stray and, um, I really, really, really would love to take her in but this is your house and all and I’ll still be here for a week so obviously it’s ultimately your decision and everything but I was just won—”

He stops her with a kiss and she smiles into it.

“Of course you can keep the kitten, sweetheart.” He scratches the kitten behind her ears and she starts purring. “How could I say no to this little face?” he coos.

Rey  _ beams  _ at him.

He glances up at Rey. “What’s her name?”

“Well, I mean, I wasn’t sure if you were going to be okay with me having her here so I didn’t want to name her yet—”

“Rey,” Ben says knowingly. “What is her name?”

Rey smiles bashfully. “Holly Golightly.”

A smile tugs at Ben’s lips. “Well hello, Miss Holly,” he says affectionately as he scratches her under her chin. The kitten purrs and rubs her head against Ben’s hand.

Rey giggles. “She likes you.”

“May I hold her?”

“Of course!” Rey exclaims as she gingerly hands Holly to Ben. 

“Hi there, sweet girl,” Ben murmurs as he snuggles the kitten up against his chest, scratching behind her ears as she purrs and kneads her paws. “I guess we should go get a litter box and cat food, yeah? I can run to the pet store if you want to stay here with Holly.” 

She smiles at him gratefully. “You’re the best, Ben.” 

He smiles and leans in to kiss her and then looks back down at Holly. “I’m going to give you back to your mommy now, but I’ll be right back, okay?”

The kitten makes a tiny whimpering noise as Ben hands her back to Rey. “Awww, Ben will be right back, my love, don’t you worry.”

“I’ll see you two soon.”

“I’m going to give her a bath while you’re gone so she’s not spreading dirt everywhere.”

Ben nods. “Oh yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“Anyway, see you soon, baby. And thank you again.”

He reaches forward to caress her cheek and murmurs, “Of course, sweetheart.” 

He kisses her again and then goes back to his car, wondering what he’s gotten himself into with this kitten, but then remembering that if this is something that will make Rey happy, he’s all for it. 

He would do  _ anything _ to make Rey happy, to see her face light up the way it did when he said the cat could stay.

He wants to spend the rest of his life making her smile like that, he thinks. 

* * *

  
  
  



	14. 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The manips in this chapter were made by the lovely [ Vic](https://twitter.com/iIzamusicalgeek)! I hope you enjoy this final installment <3

Getting things together for the move doesn’t take long; Rey’s new apartment comes furnished, and she already had a mattress delivered to the new place. It doesn’t come with a couch or anything, probably because it’s so tiny, but she will most likely get a small loveseat or something when she gets her next paycheck.

Her suitcases are all packed up into the trunk of Ben’s car and they’re about to leave when Ben pops out of his bedroom carrying her pink pillow and says, “You almost forgot your pillow, sweetheart.”

“What?” Rey asks, brows pushing together in confusion. “I brought that to keep here. So I never have to sleep on gray pillowcases.”

“ _ Ohh _ ,” Ben replies, his face softening into a smile. “I see. Let me just go put it back, then.”

They exchange a meaningful look, and then he quickly goes back to the bedroom to return the pillow to its rightful place on his bed. 

Ben comes back and Rey picks up Holly’s carrier.

“Ready, sweetheart?”

Rey smiles and kisses him. “Ready.”

***

Once everything is moved in, they collapse onto Rey’s bed. Rey rests her head against Ben’s chest and he holds her close.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Ben murmurs as he gingerly runs his hand through her hair.

“Excited. Tired. Overwhelmed. But mostly excited to finally and truly start my own life. I’ve been talking to Dr. Andor about self-care, which is never really something I did before, and I think having my own space will be helpful in establishing self-care routines and stuff, you know?”

He kisses the top of her head. “Yeah, that does make sense. Have I told you lately how proud I am of you, by the way?”

Rey smiles against his chest. “You tell me everyday, darling.”

“I feel like I can’t tell you enough,” he says softly, running his hand gently up and down her back. “You just constantly amaze me with how strong you’ve been in the face of your life as you knew it being completely turned upside down.”

“I guess it was all just kind of a blessing in disguise,” she says as she absentmindedly traces patterns on his chest with her fingertips. “It’s overwhelming and scary for sure to have everything thrown topsy-turvy like this, but at the same time, I was finally given an out from a life that made me miserable, and now I’m starting to build something new and figure out who I actually am, what I actually want, and what truly makes me truly happy.” 

“You really do amaze me, Rey,” he murmurs, squeezing her tightly. “Has therapy been going well, then? You mentioned you’ve been working on self-care with Dr. Andor.”

Rey nods. “Yeah, it’s overwhelming and it’s hard to open up to a stranger, but I’m getting there. Dr. Andor has a really warm and comforting presence. He’s helping me learn how to challenge all the negative things my grandfather led me to believe about myself. It’s really hard, but I’m working on it.”

“You’re amazing. I know I keep saying that, but you are, Rey, really.”

She buries her face against his chest. “I love you,” she murmurs, the words escaping her lips before she even realizes she’s said them. She immediately freezes, holding her breath. It’s not quite been two months. She’s said it too soon. She already feels tears prickling in her eyes because he’s going to freak out and think she’s crazy and that it’s too much too soon and he’s going to leave her and—

“I love you, too.”

Rey sits up. “Ben, you don’t have to say it just because I did, I shouldn’t have said anything, it’s way too soon and I understand if you don’t feel the same way yet, so you don’t have to—”

“Rey Palpatine,” he says firmly. “I am hopelessly, desperately head-over-heels in love with you.”

When Rey blinks and the tears stuck in her eyes roll down her cheeks, but they’re not sad tears. They’re the kind of tears you cry when you’re the happiest you’ve ever been in your life.

“I love you, Ben Solo,” she breathes out, leaning forward until their lips meet in a deep, passionate kiss. 

She feels him wiping her tears away with his thumbs as he takes her face in his hands as his tongue delicately glides through her parted lips.

He only breaks the kiss to murmur  _ I love you, I love you, I love you  _ again and again. 

He tugs at the hem of her shirt and she quickly pulls it over her head and she shivers at the intensity with which his darkening eyes scan across her bare skin. 

“Take this off for me, sweetheart,” he murmurs, his fingertips brushing along her bra strap.

She nods and unhooks it, letting it fall to the floor. He murmurs  _ I love you’s  _ into her skin as his lips find her jaw, her neck, her breasts. 

She makes a tiny whimpering sound as she tugs at his shirt and he smiles a crooked, wolfish grin before pulling his shirt off, revealing the broad expanse of his muscled chest that still manages to take her breath away. She pulls him down on top of her and they fall back against the pillows without breaking their kiss.

Ben sits up slightly so he can tug off Rey’s shorts and panties, leaving her completely naked beneath him.

He leans back down to kiss her, his hand gliding up between her thighs, his fingertips teasing at the wetness he finds there, and Rey lets out a soft moan.

“Is this for me?” he murmurs as his fingers glide back and forth between her dripping wet folds.

Rey whimpers, arching her back slightly. “Yes,” she breathes out.

“Mmm, such a good girl, always so wet for me.”

Rey reaches down to unbutton his jeans. “Need you inside of me, baby.”

He gently takes her wrist and pulls her hand to the side. “I need to do something else first,” he tells her. “Need you to spread your legs open for me, sweetheart,” he murmurs, and she nods, doing as she’s told. He smiles. “Good girl.” And then before she knows what’s happening his mouth is on her cunt, making her cry out.

“ _ Ben _ ,” she groans, her hands coming down to knot into his soft hair as she rocks her hips.

He holds her gaze while he licks and sucks at her in ways that make her feel dizzy with pleasure, and it’s so different from when she used to feel the urge to avoid his gaze. Now she just wants to drown in it, in his love, in  _ him. _

When she comes her whole body shakes as she cries out his name, her heartbeat blazing in her ears as she struggles to catch her breath, something more powerful than just lust coursing through her veins and blossoming in her chest.  _ Love,  _ she reminds herself. This is what it is to be in love. 

He sits up and kisses her, and she can taste herself on his lips and his tongue. “I need you so badly, baby,” she whimpers.

“I know, sweetheart. Need you, too.”

He sits up so he can pull off his jeans and his boxers, but then he freezes. “Fuck.”

Rey frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“I forgot to bring condoms.”

“Oh...” Rey chews on her lower lip. “I, um, I’m on birth control, so if you wanted to...if you’re comfortable with, um...”

He stops her with a kiss. “Yes,” he breathes out. “Want to fill you up with my cum.”

Rey whimpers at that. “ _ Please _ , Ben.”

He takes his cock in his hand and guides himself to her entrance before slowly easing into her, making Rey gasp. He looks at her with an intense reverence in his dark eyes.

She moans loudly when he’s sheathed all the way inside of her. “ _ Ben,  _ feels so perfect.  _ Fuck _ .”

He laces their hands together before resting his head gently against her forehead, holding her gaze as he pulls back and then rocks into her again. 

“I love you,” he breathes out before leaning in until their lips meet. 

He murmurs sweet things in her ear about how beautiful she is, how tight and wet and  _ perfect _ she feels, how she’s such a good girl, always taking him so well,  _ his _ good girl, his Rey.

She’s never felt so loved, so  _ cherished _ .

She unlaces their hands but only so she can glide her hands up and down his back, desperate to touch every inch of his skin, desperate to have him pressed up as closely to her as possible.

Her breath comes in hitched gasps, in tiny whimpers and moans and sighs breathed out against his ear.

“Are you gonna come for me, baby?” Ben croons.

She nods. “Yeah,” she whimpers. She groans his name when she feels his thumb on her clit and his thrusts growing faster and more erratic.

“Gonna come inside you, gonna fill you up so good, sweetheart,” he murmurs against her neck before ravishing it with warm, suckling kisses.

“ _ Ben _ , fuck.”

“Need you to come, Rey. Need to feel you.”

She cries out, her eyes locked on his as she comes, whimpering and babbling his name and almost crying with the intensity of the jolts of electric pleasure coursing through her. She feels him spill inside of her moment later, his eyes worshipful, his name pouring forth from his lips with intense reverence. 

He lingers for a moment, collapsing briefly on top of her as he trembles and gasps for air, before pulling out of her and drawing her close to his chest. 

It takes a moment for them to catch their breath, and then Rey giggles when she feels a set of tiny paws on her back. 

Ben reaches over and picks Holly up, placing her between their heads on the pillow. Holly purrs, rolling over on her back and tilting her head to the side, eyes closing with contentment.

Ben chuckles. “She was jealous we were cuddling without her.”

“Did you need some attention too, baby girl?” Rey coos. She rubs Holly’s belly while Ben scratches the kitten’s head.

Ben reaches over, his hand running up and down along Rey’s waist. “I love you, Rey,” he says softly. 

She smiles back at him, eyes heavy with sleepiness. “Love you too, Mr. Silo,” she murmurs, yawning. 

He chuckles. “That’s not my name, my love.”

She smiles as her eyes drift shut. “Mmm, I know, baby.” 

  
  


* * *

_**Six Months Later** _   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

****

****

* * *

_**Fourteen Months Later** _

_**** _

_**** _

* * *

Ben has some exciting news, too. 

* * *

A few days later

* * *

**_One Year Later_ **

**__ **

**__ **

* * *

Rey is pleasantly tipsy when they return home from their celebratory dinner.

“I looove you, Mr. Silo,” she murmurs as she leans in to kiss him. “So much,” she adds softly as she fiddles with his tie and looks up at him with wide eyes.

“Are you ever going to call me the right name, my dear?”

She shakes her head, grinning. “Not a chance, Mr. Silo.”

He kisses her softly. “Can I ask you something, sweetheart?” he murmurs.

“Anything, baby.”

A smile pulls at his lips.

And then he gets down on one knee.

Rey’s eyes widen, and she already feels tears pooling there as she covers her agape mouth with her hand.

“Rey Palpatine,” he says, hand shaking slightly as he pulls the ring box out of his pocket and opens it. “My life was just shades of gray until you waltzed in and infused my life with technicolor—and pink, mostly pink—” He adds, chuckling slightly. Rey laughs too as tears continue to fall down her cheeks. “You are the colors in the painting of my life, and I want to spend forever by your side. Will you marry me?”

She smiles a dazzling, radiant grin as tears pour from her eyes. She nods furiously. “Yes,  _ yes _ , a thousand times yes.”

Ben slides the ring onto her hand. As he stands up, tears begin to well in his eyes, too. He pulls her in and kisses her with all the ferocity of the bright technicolor feelings in his heart. 

When Rey breaks the kiss, she smiles. “Are you going to call me Mrs. Silo, then?”

He grins. “Oh, absolutely.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

**_Epilogue: Ten Years Later_ **

**__ **

**__ **

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on [ Twitter!](http://twitter.com/darthswift13) :~) 
> 
> Check out the playlist for this fic [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7AhpEn1JRjHLIcpdrWfR4E?si=CWsOcyy1QI6PS13xVLY4Eg)!


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